The importance of newspapers

Anyone familiar with Facebook, or any other social networking Web site, is no doubt familiar with the regularity of invitations to join "causes."

There are causes dedicated to fighting childhood illnesses, causes dedicated to political campaigns and even causes dedicated to changing the way Facebook works. I've pretty much ignored most of these causes — not that I don't believe in them; but rather that when you sign up for every cause under the sun, it just starts to seem trivial that you ever even enlisted your "support."

But I got a cause invitation the other day that I couldn't just ignore. It struck close to home — most specifically, to my profession. The cause is "Tell Five Friends How Important Newspapers are," and I am the 12,164th person to join. As of this writing, I've even recruited three additional people to the cause, with a handful of other invitations still pending.

The idea, of course, is that by signing up, I am to tell five other people why newspapers are important. Well, I thought I'd do just a little better by telling a few thousand, via this weekly newspaper column.

It's not hard these days to find stories about the impending death of the newspaper industry. I’ve attended conferences of editors where the gloom-and-doom was positively thick. And Web sites and blogs across the globe have been writing the obituaries for newspapers for the past several years.

Well, I may be consumed in a haze of self-preserving wishful thinking, but if you ask me, this "death of the newspaper" stuff is a bunch of hogwash. Newspapers are a pillar of the communities they serve and a vital source of communication. They've served this role for a long time, and will continue to do so in the future.

The fact is, the information in a newspaper can't be found anywhere else. In small, community newspapers, like the Blytheville Courier News, this is even more true.

Where else are you going to find stories about the most recent City Council Planning and Development meeting, or an account of what happened at the Quorum Court's Efficiency Committee meeting?

Where else are you going to find a write-up on last night's high-school basketball game, complete with photographs?

Where else are you going to go to learn who was named a Citizen of the Month at a local elementary school, or to the President's List at the local community college?

Where else are you going to read comprehensive news — including analysis and citizen's views — about an upcoming tax election? Where else are you going to find complete results and reactions to that election?

Where else are you going to go to find out which of your neighbors got married, who had a birthday, who had a baby, or who passed away?

Where else are you going to find complete listings of upcoming meetings and events for local clubs and organizations?

Where else are you going to find reports of local homes and businesses that were burglarized?

Where else are you going to go to find comics, crosswords, advice columns and horoscopes, all in one convenient location?

Imagine if the newspaper didn't exist. Where would citizens go for this kind of information? The loss of a newspaper would leave a gaping hole in any community, a hole that no Web site, blog or Internet message board could ever fill. When was the last time you saw an out-of-town TV crew at a local school board meeting? When was the last time anyone blogged about high school honor rolls?

It was evident how much a local newspaper could be missed a few weeks ago when, due an afternoon power outage, the Courier News was several hours late in reaching homes. The phones rang off the hook that afternoon. I heard the ladies up front repeat, “I’m sorry, we had a power outage so we’re a few hours late today,” over and over and over again, to the endless stream of readers who were waiting for their paper. There had to have been more than a hundred calls in just a couple of hours.

This isn’t to say newspapers are perfect. From the Blytheville Courier News to the New York Times, there is room for improvement. And as more and more Americans get comfortable living in the digital age, changes will have to come. Without a doubt, newspapers have challenges ahead.

But newspapers have always adapted to the changing world. Whether it has been radio, or the telephone, or TV, or cable, there have always been changes to the ways Americans communicate. But newspapers have always been there. And there is no reason to think they can’t continue to adapt.

So it’s my hope that communities across America embrace their newspapers, and I’m not just looking out for my own long-term job security. Newspapers make better communities. They inform, they entertain, they educate, they enlighten. They bring people together. They serve a purpose that no other medium has ever, or will ever, match.

Newspapers are a cause worth fighting for.