Freshwater Reporter offers an audience and a market that’s a bit different from others you may have tried. We deliver 3,500-5,000 copies of the newspaper to 150+ places in Manistee, Mason, southern Benzie, western Lake and western Wexford counties … and sometimes beyond.
Our locally owned paper is free and our readers include local residents and visitors to our corner of Michigan, as well as subscribers.
When you purchase a print ad, you also receive a free online ad.
Advertise in Freshwater Reporter. View or download our 2025 Advertising Information and Advertising Agreement.
Why advertise with us?
We strive to make our stories interesting, diverse and relevant for residents and visitors, with stories about people, places, arts, attractions, food, the environment, history and more. In addition to local reporting, we offer personal essays and poems. Our calendar of events is updated online at least weekly, and our newspaper calendar covers events in several counties. People contact us about our calendar of events as they search for things to do at home, on their vacations and during weekend getaways.
When you advertise with us, your print ad receives online exposure for FREE during the month(s) it appears in our paper.
Readers see your free online CLICKABLE ad rotating across our web pages, *and* your ad appears indefinitely in our digital full issues, available to view or download.
Do you have new hours, products or services to announce? Have a special event or promotion to announce? We’ll help you share your news!
Our ad designer, Amy, works with you to hone your advertising message. She encourages our advertisers to refresh their messages, so their ads continue getting noticed in print and online.
Amy is a genius!”
J.S., Freshwater Reporter advertiser
Your ad is given the respect it deserves.
We leave fresh copies of the current issue with our advertisers and other businesses. Your ad is delivered in newspapers that are unbound, unboxed and ready to read. Our Freshwater Reporter newsstands include copies of the current issue and the previous issue, increasing ad exposure.
Recycling is an important part of our paper’s service model. At the end of the news cycle, we remove old issues. Once they’ve surpassed their freshness, the papers are gathered for recycling. If you have past issues of Freshwater Reporter still in your place of business after the current issue’s end date, please contact us.
I immediately started getting referrals from my ad placement on Freshwater Reporter! Love seeing local hits for my business.”
–Marie Marfia, Marie Marfia Fine Art