HARDWICK – On the occasion of National Newspaper Week, October 5 to 11 this year, it seems appropriate to share this perspective from a fellow editor, modified with a local perspective.
It seems like about every time I am out in public, no matter what the occasion, once someone realizes I work for the local paper, they seem anxious to tell me something.
More often than not, it is how something someone has read impacts their lives.
For example, a select board member once told me they appreciated reading what’s happening at select board meetings in other towns because they learn about other approaches to issues they are facing too.
People tell me they like stories about their neighbors in which they learn things about their neighbor’s interests, or history, they never knew, even though they’ve known each other for a long time.
Or the woman in a local restaurant where I take a printed copy of the paper each week, who was excited the last issue contained the story of a big win by her daughter’s sports team, with a photo of her daughter. She asked for an extra copy to give to a relative, which I found for her when I picked up an old copy at the next place I dropped off the new issue to. She thanked me for the effort we put into covering local high school sports and I felt even better about the work we do than usual because I felt more connected to someone in the community.
Americans generally trust local news more than national news, and most feel local journalists are in touch with their community, shown by studies by the Pew Research Center show. At the same time, they found the share of Americans following local news closely has dropped significantly since 2016.
The best way to keep The Hardwick Gazette relevant seems to be making more of those connections.
Prior to a recent election cycle, a young man told me if we had not produced our local election guide, he would have no idea who to vote for. He said now he felt good about his vote and vowed to never make a decision in local races again without the information he got about candidates in his community paper.
Advertisers feel life-impacting moments from what we do too. Like the town clerk who told me her town found a perfect, new employee because of an ad they placed in our paper. A comment in response to one of our surveys asked for more ads to help them learn about local businesses.
How many stories like these do we never hear or know about?
There is no question that a community newspaper impacts the lives of people in a community, and in ways we may never know. The stories that come from people because of their local paper are clear evidence that newspapers are more than alive and well. They are busy breathing new life every day in communities across our country.
As an industry, we won’t give up on creating the content that can shape the lives of people. Our stories will continue to serve longtime readers or create brand new readers.
In the end, our readers tell us it’s the stories about what we are doing for them that matter most.
Paul Fixx, editor, with thanks to Jeff Cott, Publisher/Owner of Derby Weekly Informer, Derby, Kansas.
Paul Fixx is editor of The Hardwick Gazette and lives in Hardwick.
