Small town newspapers still doing their job

The journalism industry is in turmoil, but not weekly newspapers, according to Judy Muller’s recent piece in the Los Angeles Times entitled “Where newspapers thrive.”

Muller spent some time recently exploring the world of small town newspapers and said they are an example of journalism success in an era when many have already pronounced he death of newspapers.

“At a time when mainstream news media are hemorrhaging and doomsayers are predicting the death of journalism (at least as we’ve known it), take heart: The free press is alive and well in small towns across America, thanks to the editors of thousands of weeklies who, for very little money and a fair amount of aggravation, keep on telling it like it is,” Muller said.

Muller does a good job exploring the challenge many small newspapers have when it comes to covering a beat where many editors are neighbors, or at least closely work with those they are required to hold accountable. It’s easy for a daily newspaper reporter to slam the mayor of a small town or school district superintendent, but for small newspaper editors like me, you want to be careful not to burn bridges while also practicing good journalism.

Muller also identifies the reason many small town newspapers are thriving, which is they are hyper-local, publishing stories readers can only find in the weekly newspaper. However, local news is personal news. Local business, schools and crimes are extremely personal issues to many people and its not uncommon for readers to respond passionately to the issues they read. Take for example the Williams Foods grocery store issue, which is only news in Piedmont. The story has been an important one for about a year as it deals with millions in taxpayer money, but many readers have made the issue extremely personal because it deals with their neighbors, family members and the future prosperity of their town.

But for all the challenges our industry faces, and we do face many, there does seem to be hope in many places, including the small town newspaper, where many of the founding pillars of journalism still live.

“I wouldn’t be so bold as to predict the future, not in a media landscape that is constantly shifting,” Muller said. “But when we engage in these discussions about how to “monetize” journalism, it’s refreshing to remember a different kind of bottom line, one that lives in the hearts of weekly newspaper editors and reporters who keep churning out news for the corniest of reasons — because their readers depend on it.”

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