I never worked for daily newspapers. I stayed with weeklies throughout my career because I always believed they served a valueable function that dailies cound’nt. Back in those days I was more sociable and enjoyed being involved in the community I lived and worked in. The job was generally satisfying, but like any job, it had it’s ups and downs.
When I quit working for O’Dell I had to leave this area to find another job down south. That job, as managing editor of a group of newspapers in the Palm Springs area, lasted two years before I was no longer able to work.
When I came back up here you guys had your newspapers going and I immeditely became a regular reader of both.

I want you to both know how much I respect what you’re doing and how important a service your both providing to the communities you live in. You are making a difference. I’m afraid you’re the last of the old guard journalists up here.

The publishers and owners I worked for had myopic vision about how to increase readership and they still do. Insightful and thorough reporting, compelling and timely photos, thoughtful and/or provocative columns and eye-catching layout will attract and build readership just like any content on the internet. But paper (and ink), employees and brick-and-mortar offices are more expensive than ever, so publishers just keep cutting costs until there’s no point in continuing in the old paradigm.

We need a new vision for community reporting and it needn’t be nostalgic for the past, for there have been as many or more failed newspapers in the past as successful ones. It’s always been about standards: fairness, balance, thoroughness, timeliness. And public trust. The readers who know when they can trust a reporter or news media will pay for that wisdom of factual knowledge, the real record of their lives and times.

Paul Harrar
Nevada City