Christy Lattin
With a snip of the scissors and a room full of well-wishers, The Fallon Post officially opened the doors to its permanent home on Center Street last Friday.
Publisher Rachel Dahl, who also owns Fallon Media Co., purchased the building at 169 E. Center Street last October. The new space now houses all of Fallon Media Co.’s publications — The Fallon Post, The Fernley Reporter, The Pershing Post, Silver State Chronicle, and Range Magazine.
A Churchill County High School and University of Nevada, Reno alum, Dahl’s journalism roots run deep. Mentored by veteran reporter Anne Pershing, she helped launch The Fallon Star Press and caught the reporting bug. After that paper closed, she spent years in both government and the private sector before taking the leap to start her own newspaper.
That leap became The Fallon Post in January 2019, first as an online-only outlet. “Locally produced community news is very important for a community to function in a healthy way,” Dahl said. “The news had lost its local flavor and our community wasn’t getting the coverage it deserved.”
When COVID-19 hit, online readership doubled in just two weeks and then in November 2020, The Fallon Post hit print for the first time, rolling off “Becky” — a digital industrial printer Dahl had a love/hate relationship with.
By April 2023, “Becky” retired, and the Las Vegas Review-Journal took over printing. The paper hits presses on Tuesday night, is trucked to Fallon on Wednesday, and lands in readers’ hands on Thursday, and mail subscribers on Friday.
The newsroom’s home base has evolved too — from remote work to a warehouse, then to a Maine Street office, and finally to the new Center Street location just steps from the historic Overland Hotel.
But Dahl says the real story isn’t about buildings or printers — it’s about people.
“I couldn’t do any of this without the people who helped me,” she said, singling out the freelancers, volunteers, and paid staff who’ve fueled the paper’s growth. Chief among them: Leanna Lehman, who’s been in the trenches with Dahl since day one.
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