A sad day

One does not truly appreciate what one has until one no longer has it. How true!

For the first time in nearly 50 years there was no Northern News in the letterbox.

A community newspaper is more than a vehicle to keep its readers informed of local activities, it is the medium by which the same community creates its own identity, promotes the essential feeling of wellbeing, and facilitates cohesion among its members. The Northern News has served its community extremely well and the efforts of the editors past provide testimony to the value that this highly respected community newspaper has provided to its readers for a very long time.

Under local control, the community can influence the character of its content, but when that input is lost to the insensitive input of distant control, the quintessential essence of what makes for an excellent newspaper is lost. That we have come to the situation we have today is a very fair warning to be aware and watch the power of the big corporates.

If we allow takeovers of small local enterprises by out of town corporates, then we are doomed to suffer the same type of future that has befallen our beloved local journal. As always, the price of democracy is eternal vigilance.

Que sera sera, and thanks for the memories.

SHAUN REILLY

Kaikohe