There just aren’t any news outlets quite like community newspapers.
Sorry for spending a little time this week tooting our own horn, but it’s National Newspaper Week (Oct. 1 to 7) in Canada right now.
This week’s events are taking place under the slogan “newspapers matter,” with which we fully agree.
While television and radio and social media have the ability to bring information quickly, only a few of those outlets have roots in the medium-sized and small towns of Canada.
The special skill of community newspapers is to follow up on the items that are of key interest to locals, and to keep following them, day after day, week after week.
It’s in your local paper that you’ll find the details of what’s happening with potholed streets and local crimes, rezonings that will change your neighbourhood, school crowding, and the environment.
Not only that, but local papers keep reporting on those issues, bringing you up to date as things change.
Newspapers have something that is all the more valuable in recent years – patience, and an attention span longer than the few seconds it takes to read a tweet.
It’s the local newspapers that build up the archives of the recent past – the “first draft of history” – that gives depth to local reporting.
The Looking Back feature shows that we’ve been covering many of the same issues for decades, bringing people up to date.
Hopefully, with our readers’ support, we’ll keep reporting on those important issues for decades to come.
– M.C.