We Count On The Good Opinion And Civic Interest Of Good People – Our Readers.”

the editor talks with you

We love to hear from Chronicle readers like you. Chronicle reader Bonnie Stanard emailed the other day with a sentiment many of us share: How important of local news is to our community.

“You may have read this in The Week magazine,” Bonnie wrote.”Do we still need local news? Only if things like schools, taxes, infrastructure, and government accountability matter to you.

“Where fewer reporters cover local business and government, Margaret Sullivan warned in The Washington Post, ‘Corruption can flourish, taxes can rise, public officials can indulge their worst impulses.’

“When a local newspaper shutters, that same community experiences increased government waste and inefficiency, according to a 2018 report released by the Social Science Research Network.

“The loss of local reporting also depresses most citizens’ engagement in state and local politics, leading to activists dominating the parties and greater political polarization.”

Thanks, Bonnie. We second the motion.

When we watch the dwindling coverage and fortunes of metropolitan newspapers, we wonder what life might be like in our major cities if they lost their local newspapers.

You might hope other media – radio, TV and the internet – would take more responsibility.

Bonnie mentioned a nonprofit effort to keep local news flowing to our communities, We are a bit skeptical of how much good ProPublica and other well-intentioned groups may achieve.

We live in a market economy. The media ought to play a role so vital that the public will support it with their dimes and dollars online or in print.

None of us should want government to subsidize the media. That is a slippery slope toward Pravda and a media that’s only a mouthpiece for bureaucrats.

We count on the good opinion and civic interest of good people like Bonnie and you.

We want to hear from you, too, about your own concerns.

- JerryBellune@yahoo.com

We count on the good opinion and civic interest of good people – our readers.