There is an old saying that we never truly appreciate something until it’s gone. For many communities across America, that has become painfully true.
Long before radio, television, the internet, social media, podcasts and smartphones, there was local news. For more than three centuries, beginning with America’s earliest newspapers, generations of journalists have chronicled the triumphs and tragedies of everyday life. They have celebrated hometown heroes, questioned public officials, covered school board meetings, followed Friday night football, reported on new businesses, honored military veterans and recorded the first draft of local history.
That work helped build informed communities, and informed communities helped build our republic.
Today, the way we receive news has changed dramatically. We can access information from anywhere on Earth in seconds. Yet something remarkable has happened along the way.
The more connected we’ve become to the world, the easier it has become to lose touch with our own hometowns.
National news is everywhere. Local news is becoming increasingly rare.
Across America, hundreds of communities have become what researchers call “news deserts,” places where there is little or no independent local reporting. In many cases, residents didn’t realize what they were losing until it was gone. Suddenly, there was no one regularly attending city council meetings. No one consistently covering school boards. No one asking difficult questions. No one celebrating local achievements or preserving the stories that define a community.
When local journalism disappears, communities don’t simply lose a newspaper.
They lose part of themselves.
At Times Media Group, we are privileged to publish newspapers serving communities large and small. Some of our publications are supported primarily through subscriptions. Others are made possible because local businesses invest in their communities by advertising so every resident can receive local news free of charge.
However you receive this publication — whether in your mailbox, on your driveway, on your phone, in your email inbox or while enjoying a cup of coffee at your favorite café — it costs real people real resources to bring it to you. Reporters attend meetings. Editors verify facts. Photographers document events. Designers assemble each edition. Delivery teams ensure it reaches your hands.
Quality local journalism has never been free to produce.
Fortunately, our communities have something extraordinary that keeps it alive: local businesses.
Every advertisement in these pages represents a business that has chosen to invest not only in promoting its products or services, but also in strengthening the flow of trustworthy local information. Their advertising dollars help ensure that someone is still asking questions at City Hall, still covering local schools, still reporting on community events and still preserving the stories that make this place home.
So today, I’d like to ask one simple favor.
The next time you visit one of our advertisers, mention that you saw their ad here. Thank them for supporting local journalism. Let them know their investment matters.
And when you have the opportunity, consider doing business with the companies that support your local newspaper.
It’s a small gesture.
But collectively, those small decisions determine whether communities continue to have strong, independent local journalism or become another statistic on the growing list of American news deserts.
The future of local news will never be decided in Washington, New York or Silicon Valley.
It will be decided in communities like ours.
By readers like you.
Thank you for reading. Thank you for caring about your community. And thank you for helping ensure that the stories of this community and the people who call it home continue to be told for generations to come.
