Opinion

The newspaper world felt sadness recently when it was announced that the owner of a chain of papers was closing eight newspapers in Wyoming.

Not only was it terrible news for those newspapers’ employees, but readers were suddenly no longer able to have their community news to look forward to each issue. On a show of display for their newspapers, many readers started to collect donations with the hope of giving the unemployed reporters living expenses and community members attempted to brainstorm ways of reopening the publications.

That type of support reminded me of how northeastern Montana residents supported this newspaper’s publisher Darla Downs when there was an outside threat on her publications. That community outreach will never be forgotten by this newspaper’s employees.

Luckily, in the case of the Wyoming newspapers, three in-state newspaper executives reached an agreement last week to purchase the eight newspapers in limbo. Thanks goodness, these communities have their newspapers back.

One managing editor was quoted as saying, “We will get a paycheck on Friday, which I said, ‘I don’t care. You just told me my newspaper’s back.’” When I read that, I felt that non-journalists might not understand such a statement. As an old publisher of mine used to say to me, “Reporters come from a different planet.” Well, maybe it’s true that we do. To us, the paycheck isn’t the thing. Although we need to make a living, a bigger reward is knowing that you’re helping support a community and giving its members the information they need. A well-written story is more satisfying to me that even a tasty cheeseburger at the ballpark.

The situation in Wyoming is also a wake-up call for people in the newspaper business and for our readers as well. Newspapers can only survive with the support of their communities. It doesn’t matter how nice the photos or layout are if we don’t have people paying for ads and subscriptions. Please remember that an ad doesn’t only pay for a spot in the paper to advertise your event or services, but it also helps us keep providing you with the quality journalism that you and your neighbors deserve.