Start the presses

Sarah Muir
MSM Class of 2018

(6/2018) Thomas Jefferson, is credited to have said, “Were it left to me to decide if we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” Newspapers are one of the first forms of mass communication. This country was built on newspapers and printing presses.

Today news outlets have, no doubt, spread to the corners of the internet and grown to encompass all forms of social media. We are now constantly in the know about what is happening in the world at any given moment. However, this has led to the common belief that physical newspapers are unnecessary and decidedly old fashion. This is a point of bitterness in the evolution of publishing; that hard copy editions are no longer valued. I am a firm believer that there should always be a hard copy for reference. I know I run the risk of sounding like an old codger convinced that all technology will fail and plunge us into darkness, but as a student that has been the product of many dark screens where once was scholarly research, it is better safe than sorry. This translates to printed newspapers. With the decline of the printed word and the movement to more digital platforms, so disappears what marks we have made on history.

One hundred years ago, in 1918, The Emmitsburg Chronicle’s presses ceased their printing and the Emmitsburg area was left without a local newspaper. This, as I am sure you can imagine, was a severe ravesty. For a long period of time an entire community was left without a source of local news, and to a greater degree, without a voice. Newspapers are important for any society. They are a means of connecting individuals, and are a way in which a community voices the concerns and possibilities that it faces. It is a place for information and for platform where individuals can be heard.

I have said it many times before and I will say it again; I have spent the last four years involved with the Emmitsburg News-Journal. I cannot imagine a time when this newspaper would stop printing, nor do I want to. During my time as a part of the staff and had the opportunity to work with a team of writers that understand the importance of producing a quality local newspaper. While we are small compared to other news outlets, we value our community and strive to impact it with our words. In these last four years, I have come to love everything about this paper. What is more is that I have come to an awareness of what a newspaper should be. A local paper is an integral part of the threadwork of any community; something that ties individuals together by providing information and education. I have grown to expect more from the news I read. Newspapers should be responsible for the content they produce and I have become a consumer that is more prepared to discover which ones are more trustworthy.

However, I seem to have danced around the question of what it is that makes a quality local newspaper. There are many ways you can answer this because there are many facets to a paper: reliable reporting, high caliber writing, a staff that is devoted to the integrity of the content, and an overall acceptance of the responsibility the newspaper has to the community. It is no secret that the Emmitsburg News-Journal prides itself on the reliability of its reporting. It strives to give to the surrounding communities thought provoking, intelligent, and informative articles that are held to a high standard of writing. I have worked closely with the people who make this paper possible, and I have yet to find a group of people more devoted to giving the community the best paper they can than the people who are responsible for making this paper a reality.

Newspapers, as I am sure you know, are a primary source for information. National papers strive to provide their readers with the glories and catastrophes of an entire nation. Local Newspapers, on the other hand, I have found to be more intimate. They are acutely aware to where the heartstrings of a community are tied; the problems that concern them the most and the victories that reflect well on all individuals. They are informative, and if they are any good, reliable. A community is dependent on the quality of their newspaper and I know that the surrounding community is provided a high quality paper in the Emmitsburg News-Journal. I am not just saying that because I am a part of the staff, but rather I say it because I know it to be true. It would be impossible to work closely with this paper and not see the dedication that is placed in each edition.

All in all, a good local newspaper is a community talking to itself. In it, it has the concerns, promises, and values of the locals. It survives and lives in the hearts and minds of the individuals in the community. In working for a small newspaper like the Emmitsburg News-Journal, I have grown to respect a good newspaper when I see it, and I do not think there is one better than this in the whole world. I search for the same reliability and intellect I have come to receive from this newspaper. I suppose all of this can be boiled down to the seven words on the front page of our newspaper, words from the immortal Edward R. Murrow that perfectly sum up what a newspaper should be, which is, “exulting the importance of ideas and information.”

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