Twenty-six years ago, when I applied to Texas Christian University for their advertising/public relations program, I didn’t realize I was essentially pursuing a journalism degree. The majority of my coursework included classes like news writing and ethics in media, and while I never expected to be working full-time in the newspaper industry, life has a funny way of leading us to where we’re supposed to be.
Being the editor of a community newspaper has been fascinating. With a small staff, I find myself wearing a lot of hats: researching, interviewing, writing, editing, photographing, designing ads and layouts and even delivering papers to newsstands each week. I learned quickly that life is full of good news and sad news, but I’ve found joy in covering both because, ultimately, it helps to keep our community connected.
A few weeks ago, I was delivering newspapers at a local gas station when a man in the store said, “Oh, newspapers, huh?” I smiled and nodded. “I used to do that for [insert large newspaper name here],” he said, shaking his head. “It’s a dying thing.”
I stared at him blankly. If the newspaper business was a dying thing, then why was I so exhausted?
That week alone our staff had published a 16-page newspaper full of local stories, as well as a 16-page insert featuring all of the area’s graduating high school seniors (complete with in-depth interviews with valedictorians and salutatorians). The week before that, we had published a 12-page paper and the week before that, a 14-page paper that featured a special 4-page Community Choir insert as well as Mother’s Day and Memorial Day ads (most of which we created) for local businesses wanting to support their community.
While it’s true some bigger newspapers are shuttering doors or moving to an online-only format, the world of community journalism is alive and well. And I think that’s partly because so many incredible things are happening in our local communities.
Our school districts are breaking ground on major construction projects. Area students are crushing UIL competitions. Student athletes are heading to State tournaments. Local businesses are thriving, community organizations are bustling and citizens are achieving personal success.
I dare say it isn’t newspapers that are a dying thing. Rather, it’s the general public’s desire to seek out information and proactively stay informed that is becoming extinct.
The world of communication is a two-way street. It’s the responsibility of journalists to be sure the information is out there. It’s the responsibility of the community to read it.
At a recent Collinsville City Council meeting, a citizen was complaining about a universal challenge in small towns – how do we, as a society, spread the word about important events and keep our citizens informed? When someone told him the information he was seeking was published in the News-Record, he scoffed.
“It’s 2025,” he said. “Who’s reading the newspaper anymore?”
My answer: 3,500 locals who want to be informed about what’s happening in their community.
While I believe social media, AI and clickbait articles have led to a demand for instant-gratification in spoon-fed bites, which in turn has led to a shift in media coverage and the distribution of information by content creators who have become self-proclaimed “journalists”, community journalism is still an important and worthy endeavor.
I think of citizens who need to know what’s happening at the local government level in their respective cities. I think of the area students who are accomplishing huge feats and should be recognized for all of their work – and how that reflects on the schools/districts and the dedicated teachers who are pushing them to succeed. I think of the community events that not only gather our community together but help to support local businesses.
But community journalism goes beyond the news itself. I think about the teens and parents who are saving articles, announcements and obituaries to document the history of their families’ lives. I think about our 90-year-old reader who only leaves her house to retrieve the newspaper from her mailbox each week -- how her subscription to the paper not only keeps her moving but keeps her connected to what’s happening in the immediate world around her.
Local papers are not dying, because our local communities are not dying.
A yearly subscription to the newspaper – which real, living people work to create and then print on physical paper with actual ink and send through the mail with postage – is only $50 a year (about 96 cents a week). It’s one of the best ways to stay connected to your community and to keep informed about what’s happening around you.
Our little staff is working hard to provide a high-quality product that will educate, inform, entertain and – most of all – serve as the thread that connects our communities. It’s up to area citizens to take advantage of this tool, to learn about both the good news and the sad. Because we’re covering it all.
As a result, we in community journalism may be dead-tired. But newspapers are most certainly not a dying thing.
Source: Freepik.com