Next week, Sunday, October 1, through Saturday, October 7, is National Newspaper Week. The annual observance of the service that newspapers and their employees provide to their communities has been in existence since 1940; what is printed within the pages of newspapers has certainly changed since then, but the importance of the medium has not. And here at the West Essex Tribune, we are proud to be one of the only remaining independent newspapers in the state, bringing our community the stories that matter to them.
The newspaper looks a heck of a lot different than it did eight decades ago (and longer for us, as we first started printing 94 years ago, in 1929), but we’re still here, and proud of it. For nine-plus decades, the Tribune has been tailored to our town, emphasizing the things that affect us most directly and keeping track of what is going on in the township so that our readers don’t have to worry about missing anything. We have been happy to have you all along for the ride.
And what a ride it has been, despite the fact that we have been told that “newspapers are dead,” for several decades and counting. Eric Meyer, editor and publisher of the Marion County (Kansas) Record, said it best in his own editorial earlier this month: “We’ve all heard the grim assessment. But it didn’t come this year, when corporate greed downsized far too many newsrooms. It didn’t come 15 years ago, when social media began to cocoon us into echo chambers that let us hear only what we believe. It didn’t come 30 years ago, at the dawn of the Internet letting us browse multiple sources of information. It didn’t come 45 years ago, when cable news channels began giving us talking heads, mouthing the same points over and over…. As Mark Twain would have noted, reports of our death have been greatly exaggerated.And it’s not because we’ve been turned into unkillable zombies. We haven’t died because democracy needs us, and smart people nationwide know it.”
If the Marion County Record sounds familiar, it is because you may have heard that, earlier this summer, in a terrifying attack on our democracy and the First Amendment rights our country was founded upon, the paper was raided by authorities. Electronics and reporting materials were seized, not just at the newsroom, but at the homes of employees. Experts contend that the raid was illegal, an attempt to intimidate the paper and dissuade journalists from conducting routine reporting and investigations.
The Record is a family-owned community newspaper, just like us, and it was disturbing to read about what had occurred. But the fact that so many have spoken out to say that such actions are not acceptable – and that there are consequences for those who attempt to perpetrate them – has been encouraging to see, because it was not just one newspaper under duress, but rather the very democracy that allows this country to function.
“Democracy requires truth and facts – and a willingness not just to listen to them but also to give voice to them,” Meyer said in that same editorial. “That’s what newspapers do – asking questions when others are afraid to do so and providing truth that others seem reluctant to accept.”
We are eternally grateful that Livingston continues to see the importance of having a local newspaper to call its own. And not only does this town value community news, many of our residents continue to do so in print. The Tribune is available in both print and online editions, but in an era where the vast majority of most newspapers’ circulation comes from the internet, this township still appreciates their physical copies of the paper. It warms our hearts to know that so many people wake up each Thursday morning to pick up a physical copy of the Tribune. We value the tactile feeling of holding the week’s news in our hands, and we are happy that we are not alone in that respect.
Reading your local paper allows you to connect with the community, staying informed of the current issues and, of course, the local events and celebrations in town. We cover elections, the hiring of the people who run our township and school district, and the meetings that determine the future of this town. We honor our veterans, highlight our students, and recap the week’s big games. Through it all, we are there, doing our best to function as an essential part of the community.
It is worth mentioning in advance of National Newspaper Week, as well, that the Community News and Small Business Support Act (HR 4756) was recently introduced in Congress. This bipartisan legislation would provide local newspapers with financial support for employees of newsrooms. In addition to supporting local journalists through tax credits, the Act would also provide tax credits to local businesses that advertise with local newspapers, as well. Please, encourage our local members of Congress to support this bill!
Thank you for supporting newspapers on the local level. Thank you for showing us that to you, our readers, journalism matters. We have said it here before that not all towns are so lucky. For our part, we promise our continued commitment to keeping our readers informed.
