-Isms

American playwright Arthur Miller wrote, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.”

What happens when a newspaper quits talking?

One community in Nebraska is discovering the effect of no longer having a local newspaper.

When Coleridge residents received the Jan. 1 edition of the Coleridge Blade, a bold hammer headline stretched across the top of the Page: Final edition.

The paper, published for 131 years, was part of the Northeast Nebraska News Company, which owns newspapers in Cedar and Pierce counties. Owners Rob Dump and Peggy Year cited dwindling subscription numbers as the reason for ending publication.

In order to maintain a class two postal permit, a newspaper must have 300 paid subscribers. The Blade’s subscription list dropped below that benchmark.

Patrons who had purchased subscriptions will now receive their local news through the Laurel Advocate and Cedar County News.

While newspapers across the country are downsizing staffs, being scooped up by a chain of newspapers - like the sale of the Omaha World-Herald - or stopping the presses entirely, I maintain there will always be a place for local community journalism.

Who else will record local news? Where will you go years from now, when you’re digging to find a sports score? Who else records the everyday life - marriages, births, deaths - of a community’s residents?

Your local newspaper, that’s who.

Coleridge residents were shocked when the final paper landed in their mailboxes. In a Norfolk Daily News article, one resident said she wished there had been discussion about the fate of the paper, noting readers were urged to subscribe to the online version, and if townsfolk would have known the paper was in trouble, they would have subscribed.

All of it makes us sad … for a number of reasons.

Scott and I took a gigantic leap of faith starting the Advocate-Messenger. We believe a locally owned newspaper plays a vital role in a community. We hope our readers agree. (P.S. We aren’t going anywhere.)

A few individuals have told us they don’t subscribe to a newspaper because they hear news from the local coffee group or friends. Is that information vetted for accuracy? As a journalist, I hear a lot of talk. Then, I fact check information and determine if it is factual and newsworthy.

A few individuals have told us they don’t subscribe to a newspaper because they can get news for free online. News flash: It isn’t free. Somewhere along the line, someone is paid to produce so-called free content. Domains cost money, and even though there are a few free blog-hosting sites, any site that boasts archival features costs money.

Many individuals have told us they subscribe for multiple reasons: they like the product we produce, they appreciate a paper that’s reliable and honest, they support local businesses.

Newspapers are a business. There’s taxes and payroll and utilities and printing and product costs. There’s website hosting and photo archival costs and professional affiliation fees and mailing and permit costs.

We knew the costs going in.

We also knew the long-term price of not having a local news outlet.

We publish a paper every week because we appreciate the Summerland communities and all the stories worth telling, good or bad, because those stories make us who we are and form our communities’ identities. And for the record, we’re not going anywhere.

It’s unfortunate that a long-time newspaper could not sustain subscription levels and was forced to shutter its operation.

Yet, a strong lesson is learned: It is imperative to support local, be local and read local.

The future of our communities depends on it.