Local newspapers offer important service to people in their area
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Op-ed by Lydia Waters
It is National Newspaper Week! In 2021, in an era where everything is easily and immediately accessible, do newspapers still have a purpose and a place? The short answer is yes. The long answer involves why.
Anyone can Google almost everything today. Need a recipe? Need help writing a paper for school? Need facts and statistics? Look it up on your nearest device. So why are newspapers important and still purposeful? Know and trust your source.
I don’t look up news online, nor do I read social media news blurbs. I don’t know the source most of the time, so I have no idea what I can trust. I end up feeling like I need to research the news item to verify the information is even valid. The entire process gives me a headache. I can pick up the newspaper and know that the sources have been verified and what is in print is truthful. Our editor works very hard to make sure that the facts are checked and things are correct.
Another purpose of the local newspaper is community. In the society we have created for this generation there is a deep loss of community. Neighbors have no idea who is living next to them or what is going on in their area. COVID-19 has greatly impacted this situation as many gatherings and events have been canceled to protect the health and safety of everyone.
My mother is elderly so we have not been able to get her out much at all since January 2020. She is a social person, so self-imposed quarantine has not been the easiest adjustment. “The Coosa County News” has made a big difference for her. She enjoys reading about what is currently happening in our area. She loves seeing pictures of the people involved in various things. Receiving and reading the paper gives her a sense of community that she might not have otherwise in these trying times.
I grew up in a home where knowledge was honored and made a priority. Reading was a key piece of that equation. For as long as I can remember we have always had a subscription to at least one local paper. My parents would read it usually in the mornings and encourage us to read it.
As I’ve gotten older I have heard people say that newspapers are “obsolete” or “a thing of the past.” I’ve also heard that in five to ten years newspapers will cease to exist. This is heartbreaking to me personally. Most papers now offer an online version that can be accessed from any device and read anywhere. How can news be obsolete?
Newspapers are a cornerstone of freedom of speech and a landmark of democracy. Letters to the editor and opinion columns allow for a diverse point of view, as well as a civilized way to explore our different schools of thought without getting into a battle for the last word on an Instagram or Facebook post.
A dear friend of the family was once a columnist for the paper. She had a scrapbook full of old newspaper clippings that held columns, pictures, announcements, calendar events, etc. of loved ones over the years whenever they made the paper. That book was a labor of love, as was her writing a weekly column on her community.
Newspapers are a valuable part of our history, as well as a meaningful part of our present. We tend to forget that, especially when life is busy, everyone wants instant gratification, and money is the ruler most of us follow. There are more important things in life than money. Knowing who you are and where you came from are two of those things. Local newspapers help remind us where we came from; they also remind us to take a moment to pause and reflect on the things that are happening around us.
I for one am very thankful for “The Coosa County News” and papers like it all over this country. Happy National Newspaper Week; grab a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy your reading!