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Show WHY HAVE A COMMUNITY NEWSP.A PER? Theodore Roosevelt was once asked, ask-ed, during a friendly discussion of relative value, to name three things which he would consider most essential essen-tial to his welfare : hould he be marooned ma-rooned on un uninhabited island. His answer was most significant when he said: "First, I would desire my family. Second my home-town newspaper. Third, my gun." The fact that his home-town newspaper news-paper came second in importance to his family speaks volumes for that institution and it is not altogether strange that a person with Roosevelt's Roose-velt's perception of values should make this choice. The community newspaper is essentially es-sentially a serial history and biography, bio-graphy, combined, of the people and events in the territory which it serves. Through its suceeding voiurnes the community'.-, progress or retrogression retro-gression is unconsciously portrayed. It makes its subscribers' problems its own problems; a sympathetic understanding under-standing exists between publisher and subscriber which is entirely absent in urban publications. This spirit of fra-ternalism fra-ternalism extends to closer relationships relation-ships between the advertiser in the home-town paper and those whom the advertiser serves. His appeal is not so much one of "better bargains" and "cut prices" as it is of friendship, cemented by years of pleasant and constructive community association. His advertisements are a message from one friend to another. It is the function of the community newspaper to direct and to further the cultural, educational and spiritual life of its community, in addition to dissemination of news. It holds as a sacred obligation the furtherance of all projects designed for 'public benefit, bene-fit, and it opposes with equal determination deter-mination that which is detrimental. It is the clearing-house for opinions expressed ex-pressed by expert and reader, alike. The community newspaper occupies occu-pies a traditional place in the existence exis-tence of its home-town parallel in importance im-portance to the school and church. It Is an integral part of the realization of pioneering effort to construe ive living, the mouthpiece of an enterprising enter-prising and progressive element of national life. The spirit of neighbor-liness neighbor-liness is engendered by the familiarity familiar-ity with which it treats its family of readers; its flexible editorial policies permit of the same reportorial treatment treat-ment of the news of twin calves born to Bill Jones' cow as is given to news of world-wide importance. And the same fine editorial discrimination compels the absence of news in its columns which directs unfavorable attention at-tention to a member of its circle. By close adherence to a policy which is dictated by a philosophy peculiar pe-culiar to rural society, the community : newspaper has come to be regarded j as an indispensable part of the rural civic, plan. Its subscribers enjoy a' sense of proprietorship; a feeling which is shared by the average hometown home-town editor. It is the tie which binds the common interest of John Brown,1 who operates the corner store, with that of Jim White, who maintains a' fine herd of Jerseys on his farm three miles south of town. By its influence the community spirit of interdependence interdepen-dence is promoted, intimate news is made available to those far removed from childhood associations, and through its sympathetic knowledge of community affairs it has become a vital necessity to all community programs pro-grams of progress. Your community newspaper needs you you need your community newspaper! news-paper! W. G. Mills, Hanover, Mich. |