This week (October 5-11) is National Newspaper Week. Annually, this is when newspapers across Canada toot their own horns and opine how important they are to Canadians and their communities. Usually, these editorials will continue to write about the threats to journalism, how social media and fake news erode people’s confidence in their news sources, and shower readers with statistics from surveys of how Canadians still value newspapers. Those editorials will usually close out by pontificating that you should buy a subscription and support local media. However, this editorial is not that.
Whether you subscribed to The Leader, purchased a copy at a store, visited our website, or had a look in the local library – you chose to pick up this paper, turn to this page, and read this editorial. You are reading this editorial because you already know the value of local news.
Our readers already appreciate what is written by the staff at this independent and family-owned newspaper because it is local, topical, timely, and relevant to their lives. Readers could look online or to social media to see what is going on, but they would have to discern from the online chatter what was fact and what was someone’s axe to grind. They could look at regional sources from Brockville, Cornwall, or Ottawa, but they would be hard-pressed to find the stories about the fire chief’s recent departure, or what the score of the latest Morrisburg Lions’ game was. They lost this week, but it is early in the season; and we do not have confirmation yet of why the fire chief left.
Readers of The Leader already enjoy the local news, entertainment, and sports reporting of the newspaper – we know this because many readers call, email, or stop us in the store to tell us. Having a newspaper in your community means that newspaper is part of the community. Everyone who works at The Leader lives in South Dundas. Their kids and grand kids grew up here, played sports here, have started families of their own here. One might say that is unique, but that is easily fact-checked as false. Local newspapers across the country are like this, from Morrisburg to Eganville, St. Croix to Drumheller, and all points north, south, east, and west.
This National Newspaper Week, in addition to remembering to renew your subscription if you have not already, there is something important that you can do as you support local news – share it. Instead of sharing the latest meme or recipe on your social media, share that you read something interesting in the newspaper – this newspaper. Encourage those in your family and friend circle to read the newspaper – this one or one in their community. The best way to keep supporting local and factual news is to let others know about it. Thank you for reading.
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