The theme to National Newspaper Week is “Journalism matters. NOW more than ever.”

So true. It has never been more important for journalists to ask questions, expose corruption and investigate misconduct. It’s crucial that we continue to reinforce the importance of our role in society.

And we’re not just watchdogs. Our newspaper encourages our readers with positive stories that shine the light on the communities we cover.

I get asked quite a bit why I think community newspapers are important. My reply is always the same. It’s because what we put in our pages and on our websites are important to someone.

It may not be going viral around the world important, but it is just as critical in our little corner of the world. We publish photos of grand openings or anniversaries at local businesses. We report on important events at local churches. We print school honor rolls.

We cover local sports. I like to call what we do refrigerator magnet worthy. Do you know how paramount you have to be to make the honor of being placed on the front of someones refrigerator? Vitalty important. It is a proud moment for our team if we make the cut and end up next to drawings from children, photos of families, and the weekly grocery list.

If we have produced an article that ends up being torn out from one of our pages and placed in grandma’s purse for her to brag to her friends, we know we are doing something right. If someone proudly shares an article or photo we did on social media, we did our job.

It is also important that we cover and print the police, fire and court reports. We run stories on decisions made by city and county boards. We cover murders, abuse and horrific car crashes. We publish birth announcements, obituaries, and the various things that are central to our community members’ lives.

Yes, Journalism matters, now more than ever, because people matter. Truth matters. Supporting your local newspapers matter.

Thank you

Happy National Newspapers Week

 

Scott Schmeltzer is the publisher at The Tribune. To reach him, call 740-532-1441 ext. 16 or by email at scott.schmeltzer@irontontribune.com.