Community newspapers stay relevant

We celebrate National Newspaper Week, seven days set aside each year to recognize the importance newspapers have in communities across the United States.

“Local news in local newspapers is most times the only way readers know what is happening in their communities. News and sports stories in your newspaper are meant to inform readers, connect readers to their neighbors, motivate readers and, most importantly, call our readers to action,” writes Harry Hartman, chairman of the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association.

Recent news stories in our papers and websites underscore that commitment:

• In Berks County, a number of snafus within the county elections department disrupted and created a slowdown in vote counts during the spring primary election. Reading Eagle reporter Karen Shuey pursued the reasons behind the glitches, informing readers and inspiring county commissioners to order a review of practices with a goal of improvement.

• In Upper Pottsgrove Township, Montgomery County, Mercury reporter Evan Brandt uncovered through a series of Right-to-Know requests the township commissioners’ plans for a $5.5 million township building on a plot of land designated to remain open space and paid for with open space funds generated by a voter-approved tax. The commissioners’ plans were not made public until Brandt’s reporting revealed them.

• In Towamencin, Norristown, and Bucks County, reporting on municipalities’ plans to sell public water or sewer systems to for-profit companies generated public outcry and caused public officials to cancel the sales in Norristown and Bucks. The Towamencin sale went through but the opponents are fighting it with homerule charter commission candidates on the November ballot. The sale proposals were first reported by Dan Sokil in The Reporter and Rachel Ravina in The Times Herald with the news causing residents to come out in droves to protest.

During the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, local newspapers were the source of updated county information on testing sites, changing mask requirements and county measures to contain the virus. As the pandemic wound on, reporting on schools with heated board meetings debating mask requirements informed people and provided accurate accounts of the dialogue as seen from both sides by a neutral reporter.

This type of local reporting is at the core of the mission of local newspapers, but it is not the only contribution to the community. Newspapers not only report on their communities, they are also part of them. In 2020 the statewide economic impact of the Pennsylvania newspaper industry was $1.3 billion, according to a report released last year by PNA.

“Local publishers pay taxes and hire community residents for their newsrooms, business offices, press rooms and delivery operations. Those employees, in turn, are homeowners and apartment dwellers who shop at the local grocery store, fill their tanks at the gas station around the corner, and walk their dogs in the community park. They are volunteer tutors, baseball coaches, food bank helpers,” writes Brad Simpson, president of the Pennsylvania News Media Association.

In 2020 the combined impact of charitable giving and volunteerism from the Pennsylvania newspaper industry totaled $6.4 million, according to Simpson.

The newspapers of this region are a part of that: In 2021, our newspapers raised a record amount of $122,000 in Operation Holiday, a seasonal giving program that provides gifts and meals for children in local families of need. The program includes the areas served by the Reading Eagle, The Mercury, The Reporter, The Times Herald and the Daily Local News and raises funds solely through reader contributions. Last year’s record amount allowed Operation Holiday to also make $60,000 in contributions to local food pantries in January 2022.

Local newspapers are the champions and watchdogs for their communities, a pursuit that is the heart and soul of journalism. We celebrate this week the readers and advertisers who make that pursuit possible, fueling our commitment to keeping the mission alive — now and for many years to come.