I’ve always been addicted to newspapers. My parents subscribed to a lot of magazines that aren’t around today and they had good stories and information, but it was always the newspapers that got read first. With only twice a week delivery there’d be a bundle of them, always several days out of date, but that didn’t matter.
For years, the Lincoln paper came to our house, and after I married, my husband preferred the Omaha World Herald. Dad thought it wasteful; we should just read his paper after he finished it, but we traded them back and forth and I think he read the World Herald on the sly. I know Mom did. Surely the small towns had local papers but I never saw one, and now wonder why.
In her later years, my mother traveled quite a bit, often bringing back newspapers from far away places. I devoured them, even the want ads and promotions for special sales at businesses. You can get a pretty good picture of what it’s like to live somewhere from the local paper.
Sadly, newspaper circulation has fallen in today’s world, and some of that is due to Facebook. People get the word of what’s going on from that, not always accurately, and the line between fact and opinion is often blurred. Some radio stations do a pretty good job of news broadcasting, but others are more inclined to slant reporting with personal thoughts. Perhaps one or two television news programs give unbiased reports, but you have to hunt pretty hard for them.
I’ve heard folks from urban areas ridicule our local newspapers because they report the school honor roll, who took a trip or had visitors, and such minutia as baby showers and book club meetings. “Nothing really important,” they claim.
I beg to differ. Those are the things that really matter, that form our world and reinforce values. It’s hard to find hope for our society among the stories about crime, wars, and political squabbles. But reading about youngsters who have won an award, mentoring programs, funeral dinners, fund raisers, weddings, new arrivals, and visitors to a nursing home reminds us that good still exists, people still carry on and care about one another, and gives us the will to go and do likewise.
One of my favorite Christmas gifts each year is a subscription to the Mullen paper. I have grandkids involved in school there, so it’s nice to read about them and their friends’ activities, but there are always thank you blurbs from folks who received a prize in a drawing, a meal brought in, or anonymous gifts. Students have written articles expressing appreciation for upgrades to the football field, interviews with elders, and recently, the sheriff wrote to say how much it means to live in a community where people look out for one another and seek chances to do good. A list of Teammate Mentors is long, and lets the reader know how much happens under the radar that ripples out to touch lives far into the future.
If you don’t subscribe to your local newspaper, you are missing out. Like shopping local, it builds your community.