National Newspaper Week, which takes place from October 2 to 8, 2022, is an opportunity to highlight the essential role of print and digital newspapers in daily life. During this week, News Media Canada invites people to engage in a conversation about the nature of newspapers and the importance of supporting local journalism. Here are four reasons why newspapers are essential.
1. Newspapers are a rare resource for reliable information. The news they contain comes from verified sources. In the age of fake news and disinformation, they’re critically important.
2. Newspapers keep the public informed on subjects that affect them. Readers can learn new things, find out about issues that impact their lives and examine topics before reaching an opinion.
3. Each newspaper’s content is original, factual and personalized to its local area. From regular sections like politics, business, sports and leisure to special features, local newspapers provide information that can’t be found anywhere else.
4. Newspapers are an excellent showcase for local businesses. By engaging directly with the people in their area, newspapers allow advertisers to announce promotions and targeted events and make readers aware of what’s happening nearby.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for newspapers to survive. Freedom of the Press is often blocked with information being close to impossible to obtain in some areas of our day to day lives.
As an owner and operator of a weekly community newspaper I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude for those who keep their doors of communication open. Our readers simply want to know the who, what, where, when and why of what’s going on in our own backyards.
Newspapers hold the key to the history of our regional towns, villages and farms. Without a printed record of the future, of our region, our children’s children will have nothing to look back on.
On an interesting note, the Legislative Library, in Edmonton, has a copy of every registered newspaper in the Province of Alberta. That’s right, they have a copy of every issue of the Three Hills Capital from the first printing in December of 1915. The earliest issue I have is 1917. We have lost a number of issues to people removing them from our archives. Some pages have been torn out instead of being photocopied. That’s why we had to implement much stricter regulations on people searching through those saved issues. We now save our archives digitally as well as save paper copies. Many people have been so thankful to be given an opportunity to look back at the way things were in this region.
That’s what newspapers do, they record the events of the day and store them in their archives for future generations to look back and find out what really happened. The more information control there is equates to less information being available for future generations.
Now, on to Thanksgiving. I have no problem knowing exactly what I am grateful for this Thanksgiving. I am grateful that our family can all gather for a festive meal.
Last year, for Thanksgiving, our oldest son had Covid-19 Delta variant. He was ambulanced to Red Deer and then flown to Rockyview General Hospital where he was housed in the Covid wing. I was also diagnosed with Covid-19 and was isolated from my family during the Thanksgiving holiday.
Our family will be forever grateful to everyone who reached out with prayer, food and tasks of love and kindness. You really helped us through a tough time and we sincerely thank you for that
Enjoy time with your family and friends. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.
That’s Life.
