Thanksgiving marked the 25-year anniversary of my career in newspapers, specifically the Tri-County News. 25 years! That’s longer by far than any other field in which I’ve worked. That magical number of 25 got me to thinking.
The role of a newspaper has shifted quite a bit in these 25 years, not to mention the past 50-plus years. Way back then, I occasionally contributed to the Tri-County News, and was in the paper fairly frequently as a student.
Way back then, the newspaper was the local news source for everything – from car accidents to people being in the hospital, people selling or wanting things, and lots of personal notices for births, birthdays, anniversaries, and congratulations. Readers had to wait a week or more to find out about such things. We older folk remember that well. You youngsters can’t even imagine it.
Today, thanks to prolific and ubiquitous social media, we know about “news” events almost from the moment they are only a thought in someone’s head.
Those who don’t know better may even start to think that newspapers have become irrelevant in the presence of social media. Speaking as someone from “the inside” of the business, I have to say “Bah! Humbug!”
If anything, local community newspapers are even more important than ever. Here are a few examples that show why.
• Newspapers – especially community newspapers – are the first draft of local history. Each week I go through the Tri-County News from 10, 20, 30, and 40 years ago, and I find information that provides a basis for many things today. There is much more to a community than what you may see on Facebook, for instance. So much more! And local newspapers provide a good historical background for it all.
• Social media is intended to be temporary. Newspapers – whether in print and bound in yearly volumes, or in a searchable digital archive online – are forever (or as close to forever as we can foresee). I can not only tell you when something happened (a business opening, a fire, a particular award), but I can quickly find the newspaper article about it, and maybe a photo as well. By comparison, it’s hard to find something you saw five minutes ago on Facebook!
• Newspapers are equal–opportunity. They reach all generations, genders, professions, etc. Working as an independent business with connections to all, we are poised to provide information not otherwise available in any single source.
• Independent newspapers rule! Corporate newspapers are in “the news” too frequently: usually filing for bankruptcy, or purchasing other newspapers for pennies, then gutting them, laying off everyone, and selling their parts for a profit. Another benefit of being independent is that our editorial voice and decisions is ours alone: no corporate office or committee is telling us what to write (or not write)! As a bonus, we can pivot on a dime and try new things.
• Unlike social media, we can check our sources and verify information before putting it out there. We print news and information, while social media shares opinions and quick, one-sided observations.
• A community newspaper – whether it’s weekly, bi-weekly, or even monthly – is a necessary cord that connects people and organizations from around the community. Disparate voices can be found in the same place. Organizations and businesses that rarely interact may be found on the same page. Schools, Lions Clubs, book clubs, churches, local sports outside of schools, concerts, government entities that affect us, health, safety, finances, and oh, so much more, can all be found within the pages of a good community newspaper.
You are reading this now because we chose 14 years ago to make one issue a month of the Tri-County News available to everyone in our readership area for free. But there is a lot that happens in the weeks in-between these free “broadcast issues,” and we don’t want you to miss out.
We invite you to subscribe to the Tri-County News, either in print and delivered to your home, or digitally where you have 24/7 access to 20+ years worth of everything we’ve published. It’s a modest investment to stay connected – truly connected – to your neighbors and your community. There’s a convenient form on page 18, or you can subscribe on our website at www.tricountynews.com.