“A free press is the guardian of democracy. In whatever form, it must be preserved.”– Charlotte Tillar Schexnayder, former Arkansas state representative and publisher and editor of the Dumas (Ark.) Clarion
During the first week of October, the 83rd celebration of National Newspaper Week, support for the newspaper industry is highlighted all over North America.
We understand that in these digital, fast-lane times, you have a number of options in how you consume your local news. Many of those sources make no bones about being highly partisan and lowly researched sources.
Where social media is a seemingly never-ending, sensational scroll, a newspaper, with its finite deadlines and rigid guidelines for accuracy and credibility, should always remain relevant in its community.
With that said, it still makes for an interesting, often difficult, climate to exist as a weekly newspaper. The News-Gazette is pleased to report that it’s had a place in Osceola County for 132 years. It’s outlasted two World Wars, two pandemics (pictures from the Spanish Flu of 1918 look eerily familiar), the Great Depression, the Great Recession and numerous other highs and lows.
And, yet, here you are on a Thursday reading it again. If you received it through the standard delivery channels, it was free. It may not be a “perfect paper”, but you can be certain we spent a week trying our best for one.
Of course, the term “newspaper” is still used, but that News-Gazette content is also delivered by a website, social media pages, an e-edition and emailed newsletter. Either way, the work was done to inform. Information is powerful. And empowered readers form strong communities.
Need proof? It was this newspaper that revealed Osceola County’s agreement to bring coal ash from Puerto Rico to a local landfill. Shedding light on the subject empowered residents to resist, and ultimately the County Commission to act five weeks later: “After a tremendous outpouring of public opinion, and acting in what it believes is the best interest of the public, Osceola County Commissioners have asked the operators of the JED landfill to immediately halt the transfer of coal ash from Puerto Rico to Osceola County.”
Coda Ventures, a research firm that shares its analytics with the newspaper industry, reported earlier this year that 79% of Americans still rely on local newspapers to stay informed about their communities and their local issues, and discover their new places and activities. (The rest of them? The information they accessed was likely still written by a print reporter.) And, six out of 10 adults trust newspaper advertising for purchasing choices.
And, yet, when our industry refuses to pander to the wishes of those who only want to read, see or hear about the very things they believe, those nasty words come out — “Fake News”. We’d rather you not consume the product at all than work to convince others that it is not truthful, or that we have ulterior motives.
Our commitment is to strengthen, and watch over, the community — not divide it.
