Community newspapers continue strong

National Newspaper Week, Oct. 6-12, may not be marked in red on your calendar, and we’re pretty sure Hallmark has never written a card to celebrate the occasion, but we’d like to take the opportunity to share the importance of newspapers in today’s society.

Newspapers continue to be a strong source of information to millions of people every day.

According to Scarborough Research, 131 million Americans read a daily newspaper the past week.

It is true the newspaper industry is changing, but contrary to what you may have heard, newspapers are not dead — especially community-based newspapers such as the Daily Globe.

Just last year, multi-billionaire Warren Buffet jumped into the newspaper game, buying several community newspapers, calling them strong investments because of their vital place in the community.

Mike MacLaren, executive director of the Michigan Press Association, said in a recent op-ed the newspaper industry is changing to keep up with the times, just like many other industries, including the telephone, television and movie industries. They’re not dying industries and neither is the newspaper industry as it grows with Internet formats available on personal computers and cellphones.

But the strength of the community newspaper continues to be the local news, sports and photos, as well as advertising presented every day.

Who’s running for city council? What happened at the county board meeting? When is the ATV parade? Where is the next volleyball match? Why are they digging up the highway? These are all great questions about happenings within the community, and the answers are found right here, every day.

Every day, the public has a thirst for information about what’s going on in the community. Every day, their community newspaper is there to provide answers.