The Small Town Newspaper
Don’t let anyone tell you the printed newspaper is dying. It may be changing a little, but in this small town, it is still a big deal. Why is it so important?
Small town newspapers show what we are about.
Take a look at some of the pages in the photo above from a local newspaper out of Mound City, MO. They cover all the local towns, including our town of Oregon, MO. In two pages, you can see all those values that small towns cling to. The importance of family, history, faith, giving, and civic duty are all covered here. There are fundraisers, free lunches, anniversary announcements, local church info and history from decades ago.
There is also a newspaper here in town, called The Times Observer. We have stacks of newspaper clippings that we have saved from both newspapers. They might be articles with kids about honor roll, sports, or school programs. Or announcements related to family or friends or the community.
Why do we need the small town newspaper?
In this online article, Pew Research Center states, “Small town Americans prefer the local newspaper for a long list of information—including local weather, crime, community events, schools, arts and culture, taxes, housing, zoning, local government and social services. Residents of smaller towns are also the most likely to worry about what would happen if the local newspaper no longer existed.” Although the article is 10 years old, this hasn’t changed.
Many of the local organizations have started posting information on social media. But if you want to make sure you don’t miss anything, you better subscribe to the local paper. For the minutes from your local school board meeting or city council, you need to subscribe to the local paper. For information that you don’t really need to know, but want to know, you need to subscribe to the local paper. You need to read the crime section to see why the police was at your neighbors house last weekend. Or to know who bought the property your grandma used to live in when she was a kid, you need to read the land transfers. It’s all in your local paper.
Save those clippings!
The newspapers pictured above are The Kansas Chief (Doniphan County, KS), The Times Observer (Oregon, MO), and Mound City News (Mound City, MO). All three are sections we have saved. They get put away with the kids’ best school papers, medals, event t shirts and other keepsakes. Then every few years, or even some times longer, we get to relive those memories as we read the article.
Keep the articles. And, if you save the whole newspaper, you can get a glimpse of what else was happening that day. This is especially fun when babies are born. You buy the newspaper the day they are born and put it with their baby book. As adults, they can find exactly what was going on in the world the day they were born.
Are you ready to subscribe?
To receive your local newspaper, contact their office! Some do have online sites where you can sign up. But there are papers, especially the smaller ones, that are still in print only. They might have contact information in the newspaper. Or, in a small town, you can ask someone at the local restaurant, grocery store or gas station and they will most likely be able to help.
So subscribe to your local newspaper. And, I would love for you to subscribe to the Big Picture Small Town blog!
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The Word
1 James 19-20. 19 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: 20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.
