Opinion
Long-time readers may notice a change in this newspaper’s coverage starting today. Our staff has taken on the responsibility of also covering Daniels County in our pages.
Daniels County Leader owners Burl and Roz Bowler have done an outstanding job in providing the local news to Daniels County throughout the years. Burl and Roz have owned the Leader for the past 30 years. Three generations of the Bowler family have ran the publication for the past 102 years. That’s quite a feat. Their commitment to their community is truly something to admire.
The Northern Plains Independent’s decision to began covering Daniels County was made when Daniels County Leader owners Burl and Roz Bowler announced their retirement in June. Without a buyer coming forward that had interest in the newspaper, we felt the honorable thing to do was to supply Daniels County residents with an option to continue reading their news. The final edition of the Daniels County Leader was sadly published last week.
We know that we can’t totally replace the great work that the Bowlers have performed, but we promise to do our best to cover their area. It’s sad when a community loses its “hometown” newspaper, but as neighbors we understand how precious northeastern Montana is to us all. Publisher/ owner Darla Downs and myself are similar to the Leader’s staff from the standpoint that we love journalism and that we care for our readers. We also understand the importance of community support and involvement in order to achieve goals in our rural areas. We admire the “we can” attitude that northeastern Montana residents possess.
Our newspaper family has made some changes in order to provide increased coverage. A new reporter, Elizabeth Hendrickson, was hired to cover the Culbertson area as far as news and sports coverage for our sister newspaper, the Community News. The result will free up some hours for myself so I can concentrate more on the Wolf Point area and also provide Daniels County with consistent coverage. Another addition is Kerry Cash who will be seen in Scobey on a consistent basis for your story and advertising needs. James Walling will focus more on Scobey and Poplar news than the Culbertson/Froid news which he had been assigned previously.
The changes don’t mean that Wolf Point will be covered less. Rather, our newspaper should be larger and offer more area news and sports than ever before. These are benefits for all both our readers and advertisers.
In journalism, there is a term called “hyperlocal.” What it means is an emphasis on reporting regarding local events. That is what this newspaper is all about. If something happens locally, we hope to be there. Regardless if you live in Wolf Point, Poplar, Frazer or Scobey or anyplace else in our area, give us a call at 406653-2775 to inform us of newsworthy ideas and activities.
