Newspapers build community
SaltWire’s mandate: To provoke thought and action for the betterment of our community.
You might notice the above slogan on page A2 today. Please indulge us while we explain what we mean.
We in the newspaper business get a bit mistyeyed sometimes about our role in democracy.
That can be a bit tiresome to non-journalists, but it’s true: journalism in its purest forms informs readers about what’s going on around them.
What happens when a media outlet publishes an important, well-researched story? People discuss it at the coffee shop, around the kitchen table and on social media. It acts as a form of social glue, a way of building community among people.
If we’re talking about something we all have in common, hopefully we listen to each other, build a larger understanding and serve the greater good.
In a city like Halifax, several media outlets compete for readers and advertisers. Some big cities have more than one daily paper. Smaller centres have a single weekly or monthly publication.
All these papers do more than just cover the news. They provide an important outlet for local businesses to connect with customers. They sponsor local charities and minor sports. On the Island, we work with the P.E.I. Marathon, Salvation Army’s stuff for students, Jack Frost Festival, and the Rotary Club’s book drive.
Newspapers profile interesting people, chronicle lives and deaths with birth announcements and obituaries, run puzzles and comics to divert you, provide commentary from a wide spectrum of voices and forecast the weather.
Newspaper websites contain far more news than can be printed, and in SaltWire’s case, can also inform you about home. If you moved to Summerside, Charlottetown or another Island community from Yarmouth, an online subscription can deliver the Vanguard to a screen near you.
So how is all this related to democracy?
Well, studies, mostly from the U.S., show that when a community loses a newspaper, civic engagement drops.
Low voter turnout is connected to poor access to news media. One study found that politicians representing areas with fewer reporters didn’t work as hard. Another study found that local reporting helps public health workers track the spread of disease.
There is overwhelming public support for local journalism. An Angus Reid study from 2018 said 94 per cent of Canadians feel that journalism plays an important role in democracy.
In short, as one U.S. panel from 2009 concluded, news is as important to our democracy as “clean air, safe streets, good schools and public health.”
We want to keep bringing you the news. We would like to get you thinking about it, prod you into doing something to improve your community and maybe entertain and inform you at the same time.
That’s our mission. Join us.