For the last 16 months we’ve been working hard here at the Gazette to gather as much government, school, civic and sports news as we can, along with as many community events as are sent to us.
As part of being a nonprofit, we have no owners, only a board that’s responsible for seeing that our publishing activities benefit the communities we serve. Understanding what’s important to our communities is critical to our success.
We know local news is important and a recent Pew Research Center report confirms it. “As in the past, local news organizations are the most trusted news source across age groups – and this trust has risen slightly across all groups.”
The report said, “On the whole, Americans remain far less likely to trust information from social media sites than from national and local news organizations. But the difference is less pronounced among the youngest adults: 54% of Americans ages 18 to 29 have at least some trust in the information that comes from social media, just below their level of trust in national news organizations (60%). More young adults (76%) express trust in information from local news outlets.”
There is a much bigger gap in trust among the oldest Americans: 28% of those ages 65 and older say they have at least some trust in information from social media, compared with 74% who trust national news organizations and 84% who trust local news outlets.
We don’t always get it right and readers are quick to tell us when we don’t, which helps guide us. One measure that seems to make a difference in how Americans trust news is in how ready news outlets are to correct errors. We take our obligation to do that seriously.
I believe we’ve been doing well in covering upcoming community events, entertainment reviews and sports, but each week there’s more happening in select boards, school boards, planning commissions and other civic activities than we can possibly get to and find the time to report on with our limited staff and budget.
To see that we understand what it means to meet the needs of our communities, on May 18 we plan to visit with one of those communities and find out how well Greensboro residents (and visitors who happen to be in town then) think we’re doing. After this first gathering in Greensboro, we plan to do the same in other communities.
Part of the gathering will be spent helping us understand what the community thinks it means for The Gazette to be community owned. Part will be spent sharing how we look at our work and the many ways people can engage with it.
Greensboro is a unique community, as are all communities. We’re lucky to have found a home in such a welcoming place after our previous owner stopped printing the paper in April 2020 and closed the office several months later. We’ve had our office in the Greensboro town hall since then, which makes it easier to cover news here than in other towns. (Thankfully, I live just a few steps from the Hardwick Memorial Building, and Gazette photographer Vanessa Fournier lives in Hardwick, so covering the government aspect of the Gazette’s hometown is easy too.)
And, Greensboro’s being a unique community, means we’re able to hold the event at Highland Center for the Arts, where Hill Farmstead Brewery will share samples, Jasper Hill Farm will provide cheese and Wilson Farm will be sharing ice cream.
We hope you will join us to share your thoughts about our work, Sunday May 18 from 3 to 5 p.m.
Paul Fixx, editor
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
I have been very impressed with the quality of your news coverage. I do not always have time to soak up all the details of all the stories. I would like a small directory on page 1 so I could prioritize which articles I read. Or maybe each reporter could do a synopsis to put at the top of their article. I know your objections—-that’s a lot more work for a very overworked staff.
Thanks for your comment. If you live in Greensboro, we hope you will attend our Greensboro gathering at Highland Center for the Arts, Sunday, May 18, beginning at 2 p.m. to share these and other comments, as well as learning about how we attempt to meet the needs of readers.
We do provide a Table of Contents at the top left corner of page 2 in every issue. Let us know if that helps.
Our stories are generally written so that the first few paragraphs give you much of the story, perhaps 70% to 90%, and hopefully enough for you to have a good sense of the subject. Reading more will give you background and details
When you scroll down through stories on our homepage, the first sentence or two will give you a sense of the story. The same should work if you are reading the flipbook, pdf or a printed copy.
Thanks for reading The Gazette,
Paul Fixx, editor