The West Virginia Department of Tourism says it’s looking for ways to reduce costs and increase readership for Goldenseal, the state’s traditional life magazine that’s been published for 50 years.
This is a cover image for the Spring 2025 edition of Goldenseal magazine.
Courtesy photo
Goldenseal was first published in April 1975 by the West Virginia Department of Commerce and the Arts and Humanities Council, according to a history of the magazine posted on the Department of Tourism’s website.
The Department of Tourism, which was combined with the state Department of Culture and History earlier this year, prints the magazine four times a year. Topics range from “labor history, folklore, music, farming, religion, traditional crafts, food and politics.â€
In an email to West Virginia Watch, Tourism Secretary Chelsea Ruby said, at its height, the magazine had more than 30,000 subscribers. In recent years, “with the growing preference for digital media,†subscriptions have dropped to fewer than 4,500, she said.
Ruby said the decline in subscribers, along with rising costs of printing and postage, have led to a net loss of $640,000 in taxpayer dollars over the past five years.
Ruby said the department does not plan to completely eliminate the magazine. She did not directly answer a question about whether the state plans to stop printing the magazine. She said the department is working “hand-in-hand with the Goldenseal editorial team to explore more effective ways to share the state’s beloved heritage with a broader audience.â€
“We are exploring options to modernize [Goldenseal] with the goals of both reducing costs and increasing readership,†Ruby wrote. “While we are still in the planning stages of Goldenseal’s next chapter and don’t have all the details ironed out, I can assure you, we are committed to keeping the tradition of Goldenseal alive.â€
Rumors about the possible end of the magazine’s print edition are the basis of a Facebook group called “Friends of Goldenseal magazine,†which had 210 members as of Tuesday.
“Goldenseal Magazine’s future hangs in the balance,†Alan Byer wrote in his description for the Facebook group. “Goldenseal may become all-digital, with the Summer 2025 issue the final print edition, or it may go away altogether. Our new administration in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä hasn’t made any announcements and have shared nothing definite with the staff.â€
He urged people who love the magazine and are concerned about its future to contact Ruby and to buy copies of the magazine.
In a statement, Byer, an Elkins resident who has contributed writing to the magazine, called Goldenseal “unique among state-sponsored publications.â€
“It has never been a slick advertisement for West Virginia’s physical beauty and typical tourist attractions,†he wrote. “Instead, for the past 50 years, it has delved into our fair state’s very soul, telling the stories of regular people who have practiced, or still practice, age-old traditions. Articles about mountain musicians, dancers, square-dance callers, artists, sculptors, writers, poets and plain-old interesting people throughout West Virginia’s rich history fill its pages.
“Many of us, including a growing number of visitors in search of authentic Appalachian culture and history, rely upon Goldenseal for information we can’t find anywhere else,†Byer said. “Its contributions to West Virginia and West Virginians can’t always be directly measured in dollars and cents, but it remains a valuable asset for us all.â€
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
