SUSAN SAYS

Thoughts on National Newspaper Week

The first week of this month, Oct. 2-8, was National Newspaper Week. This year’s theme, “Newspapers - Your Number One Source for Local News,” underscored the importance of the nation’s newspapers in the daily lives of citizens.

The week passed with seemingly little fanfare in area newspapers, but that’s not unusual. H. Dean Ridings, president and CEO of the Florida Press Association, pointed out that “we openly write about our own problems on the front pages, but it seems like we minimize our gains.”

Sometimes it falls on other media to pat the newspaper industry on the back. The Today Show had a feature on yard sales last week. It focused on how to prepare for a sale, how to price and display one’s wares. The first suggestion for ensuring a successful sale was to advertise in the local newspaper.

“Yes,” said Ann Curry, “people do still read newspapers.”

It seems there’s been an ongoing debate in recent years about whether theprinted newspaper will continue to exist. After all, newspapers have plenty of competitors out there, a hundred million websites, hundreds of thousands of bloggers, Facebook, Twitter, billboards, radio and television. And that competition is formidable.

But the majority of Americans respond, “Please don’t let them take my newspaper away - I love the feel of a newspaper in my hands.”

CNN founder Ted Turner once famously predicted that printed newspapers would disappear within 10 years. Interestingly enough, his prediction was made 30 years ago.

Newspaper Association of America research from 2011 by Scarborough USA indicates almost 70 percent of Americans read either a printed newspaper or its online counterpart each week.

Doug Anstaett, executive director of the Kansas Press Association, poses the question, “If print is dead, then why do more than 7,000 weekly and 1,400 daily newspapers still open their doors every day and report what is happening in their communities?” His answer - Because they take seriously the importance of local news. They know those who plunk down their hard-earned cash want their newspaper to cover those events that are unique to each community.

“Every day, newspapers in our local communities cover the big stories and the routine as well,” he says. “Newspapers are the number one source of local news in every city and county in America because we show up each and every day and cover those stories. It’s what our readers have come to expect. And it’s what we do better than any other news source in America.”

The importance of newspapers is emphasized even more strongly when one considers the watchdog role on government that the media plays. From Watergate to the local level, newspapers have played the lead role in exposing corruption and making life better for all of us.

President Thomas Jefferson realized this when he stated, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

Dominic M. Calabro, president and CEO of Florida TaxWatch, a public policy research institute and government watchdog, echoes these sentiments. “If not for newspapers,” he asks, “who would make the rounds at city hall? Who would routinely check the courthouse or the police station? Who would bring us the messages and the analysis of the politicians who want to govern? In short, who will inform us in clear speech what is really happening all around us?”

Calabro noted that we depend on trustworthy, knowledgeable journalists and their editors to deliver scrutiny and interpretation of local events, of what the state’s budget crunch means for all of us and where our tax dollars are going. Without newspapers, far fewer people would be informed of vital information and we would all be poorer for it.

Good points, all proof that your printed newspaper is alive and well. You’ll find it in your mailbox this week, and next week, and the week after that. You can count on it.

Susan Holland is a lifelong resident of Benton County and a staff member of the Westside Eagle Observer. She may be contacted by email at sholland@ nwaonline.com.

Opinion, Pages 6 on 10/18/2011