That may sound self-serving, but it's not. I haven't worked for a newspaper for more than three years. I pay to subscribe to the Daily Republic, just like you.
I love newspapers and cheer for them to succeed.
It's easy to knock your local newspaper. Almost everyone does so – giving it a sarcastic nickname that suggests some fatal flaw. During my career, I worked for the Times-Standard (called the "Sub-Standard" by locals) and the Daily Republic (called the "Daily Repulsive" by locals). I tolerated those slights because I knew that happened everywhere. And I knew people were wrong. Both newspapers were good.
Local newspapers play an important, irreplaceable role in our lives. Local newspapers cover high school and community sports. They keep track of events at schools and weekend gatherings that are what make communities great. They tell you what's coming in entertainment.
They cover what's happening and serve as watchdogs of local agencies. Do you want to go to every city council or school board meeting and keep track of the happenings? If not, do you want someone to do it for you? Local newspapers do that. When a local newspaper goes away (as it did in Bell, in Southern California, a few years ago), local agencies can go crazy, because no one is watching. A local newspaper is much more authoritative than the local blogger.
There's been plenty of talk about the struggling economic model of newspapers and how they're not relevant in a world of social media and web-based outlets.
But when people ask me about newspapers and say things like, "They can't compete with the internet," I disagree. Because if you look at the real reporting of news on the internet, the coverage of government and well-written articles about events that matter most to you, they almost all come from newspapers.
Local newspapers are where we turn during events like last fall's wine country fires, when we need to have a broader focus. They're where we turn when there is crime or a fire in our neighborhood. They're where we turn when our child graduates from high school and we want to see photos.
Newspapers cover all those things. And you know what else? Newspapers pay reporters and photographers and editors. Newspapers pay receptionists and payroll clerks and the folks who design advertisements (so you don't have to pay 100 percent of the cost). Newspapers pay the people who work the printing press and those who make sure the newspaper gets delivered to your house.
And trust me, while newspapers pay all those people, none of the employees are getting rich.
The Daily Republic requires you to pay to see its online content, which has undoubtedly brought complaints from people who would never think to give away their work for free. I don't mind paying for the Daily Republic (just as I don't mind paying for internet access and food and heat and water). It's payment for service.
A recent article pointed out that the millennial generation, stereotyped as whiners who want everything for free, are leading the way back to traditional media. Millennials realize that it makes sense to pay for news in the same way they pay for food and clothing.
I love newspapers. My biggest hope is that they survive and thrive in the new world.
Because if we let local newspapers go away, the first losers will be those who make a living there. But the biggest losers will be our communities, which will lose something impossible to replace.
Keep supporting your local newspaper.
Reach Brad Stanhope at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.
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