The Importance Of Community Newspapers
Much has changed about print journalism since the time I entered the field.
Growing up, reading the papers from Atlanta and Macon were a daily ritual in my house. The sports section was also the first place I went but it was also a habit to read the local news pages, the editorials, the comics and, of course, the front page.
As a political junkie, I used to comb through the inside pages looking for news of candidates who had thrown their hats into the ring for statewide and national office. I knew approximately a year before the primaries candidates would begin declaring their intentions and it was a point of pride for me to know about these announcements as soon as they were printed.
My local publication, The Monticello News, was also must reading in my house each week. From the articles about local sports to the local columnists to what transpired at governmental meetings, the arrival of a new edition each Thursday (or Wednesday night) was also highly anticipated.
In 2017, however, much has changed about printed journalism. The bigger, daily papers never really found a way to deal with the Internet and how to keep track with 24-hour cable news. Of course, much of what we see on cable news TV is not really news but rather opinion. So-called cable news stations are known for having a slant one way or the other and the credibility of most are shaky at best.
Many of the smaller daily newspapers have begun cutting back on their printed product. The so-called “daily” paper in Gwinnett is now down to three days a week. I have never understood how Gwinnett County with its massive school system and massive population does not have a true daily newspaper.
The daily paper in Athens recently did away with its Monday print edition and it took complaints from subscribers to prevent management from continuing to charge readers for seven papers a week. It seems the thinking in Athens was that an online edition is the same as a printed version for all readers. That is not the case, of course, especially for those readers who don’t want to look at their newspaper online.
The Athens paper has improved its sports section in recent months thanks to a new sports editor. A renewed emphasis on local stories on the sports pages has returned and actually made the section worth looking at again. A major negative for the sports section, however, is that the deadline for the print edition is so early that it can no longer include local sports from the previous night. The paper I receive on Saturday does not have any high school football scores telling readers to look at the Sunday paper for results. For a daily paper, that’s not acceptable.
Local community papers meanwhile are still hanging in there. It remains a weekly habit for many people to read their local newspaper. I know my parents continue their tradition of buying the paper on Wednesday night not long after it is back from the printer. My brother receives his paper in the mail on Thursday as a subscriber.
I’ve always felt there will always be a market for community publications. Local sports, local news, wedding announcements, birth, obituaries and other items of interest you can’t read anywhere else will always have a place in your hometown publication, including this one you are reading now.
When I worked as editor of the Barrow News-Journal, I made it a point to use local columnists whenever possible. The theme of “local, local, local” was something that could not be stressed enough.
Many people have clippings of articles from their hometown paper placed in scrapbooks and will continue to preserve them for years to come. Through the years I’ve had many people tell me they still have articles that I wrote 10, 15, 20 or more years ago. They enjoy sitting down and reading the stories again. It’s similar to a favorite song from decades past in many ways as it brings back memories of years gone by.
So while daily papers may not always be with us (in 20 years I think most, if not all, of the smaller dailies will be virtually non-existent) I think newspapers like the one you are holding in your hands now will still be. The reason is simple: there will always be a demand for them.
Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long time newspaper columnist. He welcomes feedback from readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.