National Newspaper Week: Newspapers are a product of their community – The Daily Nonpareil

If youre reading this, chances are youre a believer in newspapers.

Thats a safe bet, since youre reading this in print or behind our online paywall, so you or someone you know paid money maybe a couple quarters at the grocery store, maybe a few bucks to subscribe online, maybe a bit more for home delivery to have access to this column.

Another safe bet is that fewer of your friends and neighbors are taking the paper than yesteryear, and certainly fewer than a decade ago. The paper back then was bigger, and it cost less well, to be fair, everything cost less.

This newspaper, and most like it, arent the same. We have fewer reporters, and it feels like theres more to cover. Theres definitely more people living in the area to cover. And its an exciting time to work as a journalist, even if its perhaps not got the same glamorous reputation we once believed it did.

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Yet, Id argue this community newspaper, along with our regional and national brethren, are more important than ever, or at least have the potential to be.

A newspaper has always been something put out by many people. In small operations, every subscriber, every advertiser, every retail partner, every voter, every postal carrier ... well, you get the idea. The newspaper is a group endeavor, and it serves its community.

Theres plenty of competition from other information sources, let alone other media used for entertainment or the algorithmic precision that social media deploys to capture attention the currency of the realm for itself.

Thats not to say those other formats dont have their place. TV news, online outlets, magazine, radio, podcasts I consume a variety of informational media, and only I wish there was more time in the day. Its been too long since I caught Frontline or watched a feature-length documentary, and far too long since I read a book-length piece of journalism.

But newspaper journalism including the work of wire services like the Associated Press and digital stories from outlets such as the nonprofit States Newsroom affiliates is foundational.

Newspaper stories are long enough to include somenuance and detail, but short enough to be consumed by many people. Theyre largely straightforward and intended to communicate information clearly and precisely.

In their best, they distill painstaking reporting into just what you need to know. Even the lowly rewritten press release still aims to communicate information of interest to readers.

Together, newspaper stories weave together a picture of the community they cover. Like any attempt to capture our complex society, theyre offering just a portion of the whole but its more than there would be without the paper, and thats a situation increasingly realized by communities across the country.

A community without a newspaper, or without professional journalists at all, is harder to navigate. Governments and other interests are harder to hold to account. Those at the margin are easier to ignore. And the community itself is smaller as a result, less than it might be without intentional story sharing.

Sure, there still are social media posts provided youre allowed to make them. There are still the occasional story in the next-nearest outlet. If your local member of Congress is indicted, youll still hear about it.

But staying informed in those communities is harder, and fewer people will invest the time and energy. More are likely to fall victim to misinformation or disinformation.

So, as we recognize National Newspaper Week, Id like to thank you for supporting this newspaper. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to subscribe if you like what youre seeing. If you dont, please let us know and understand that were doing our best.

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National Newspaper Week: Newspapers are a product of their community - The Daily Nonpareil