By Jock Lauterer
Let’s get this straight: Newspapers are not vanishing. At least not my kind of newspapers.
Yes, many major metros are in a circulation free-fall. But not my guys. The small, local or what we call “community newspapers†– papers with circulations below 50k, many of them found off the interstates on the so-called “blue highways†of this nation – are doing very well, thank you.
In fact, these “relentlessly local†papers are so quietly successful that big-city papers have finally noticed and are copying them! Example: pick up today’s N&O and count the number of local stories on the front page.
The numbers
North Carolina has only eight papers that might be considered major metros – all the rest are “my peeps†(as Selena, my hip Carrboro daughter, calls “her peopleâ€). This includes the 192 weeklies and small dailies of the Old North State. And of course, add to that mix our own Carrboro Commons.
If you’re like me, numbers make your eyes glaze over. So I’ll make this quick. Of the 9,321 newspapers in the U.S., only 217 are considered “large.â€
Now listen to this stat: Statewide and nationwide, 97 percent of our newspapers are small papers. And they reach almost three times as many readers as do “big†papers.
OK, enough math. Let’s cut to the chase.
So what and who cares?
Veteran Chapel Hill editor/professor Jim Shumaker used to demand this of his reporters when they pitched him a story: “Tell me why this matters!â€
These are the papers that tell you when your garbage pick-up has changed, what the town council is up to, who’s going to be playing quarterback this week, when the library will open, what that new zoning ordinance will and will not allow, what’s for lunch at the school, who made the honor roll, when that road widening project will be done and how best to avoid traffic jams.
These are also the papers where many of our students get their first internships and many grads get their first jobs. (I note with satisfaction that former student Jack Carley is now on the staff of The Citizen.) Just looking at the sheer numbers, wouldn’t you think it’s the job of a great public university to encourage and empower such an industry?
That was my thinking when in 2001 we launched the Carolina Community Media Project as a way to help strengthen the state’s community papers – both rural and suburban. The real reason “Shu†would pay attention to my pitch: The better the community paper, the more likely it is that that community will have a vital civic life and a sense of pride in place – both keys to high livability in a free democratic society.
The better the paper; the better the community.
It ain’t rocket science, but I’ve seen that dynamic at work too many times in too many places to discount the link.
So how can I, just one person, make a difference here?
That’s where Johnny Appleseed comes in.
The happy wanderer
As a child I loved the story of Johnny Appleseed, the wandering pioneer nurseryman, planting seedlings for free wherever he went. In my Little Golden Book, Appleseed was barefoot, skinny, bearded and whistling, toting a backpack full of tiny saplings — happy in his work.
I was particularly captivated by Johnny Appleseed’s selfless work ethic, as he knelt to dig a hole, popped in a tiny sprout, back-filled the hole lovingly and then moved on to the next farm or village, perhaps never to see the fruits of his labor. But the man didn’t need accolades or affirmation; he knew he was doing what we Southerners call “the Lord’s work.â€
Reading my Little Golden Book, I thought to myself: Would that someday I could be so happy in my work.
On the road again
And so it has come to pass. When, in the summer of 2001 I set out on the first series of free, onsite workshops for small newspapers around the state, it’s not surprising that Johnny Appleseed’s name and vision sprang to mind.
Co-sponsored by the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Carolina Center for Public Service, the “roadshow†needed a descriptive handle. What better than that of the happy wanderer, planting seedlings wherever he went?
Thus the name was coined: the Johnny Appleseed Summer Community Journalism Roadshow.
The name was so catchy that smart-aleck colleagues began suggesting that I add the name of a new road warrior for each succeeding summer’s workshop. So today it has come to this:
The Johnny Appleseed, Charles Kuralt, Jack Kerouac, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Johnny Cash, “Possum-Dodgin†Summer Community Journalism Roadshow.
Whew!
Nothing could be finer
Over the course of seven summers, the roadshow has gone to 110 community newspapers, literally from Murphy to Manteo (or for real Tar Heels: from Wolf Creek to Whalebone). In my office hangs a state map peppered with brightly-colored pins marking the location of places I’ve led workshops: among them are my favorite names: the Orator of Denton, the Standard Laconic of Snow Hill, the Herald and Ruralite of Sylva.… So far this summer the Roadshow has gone to Warrenton, Littleton, Hillsborough, Mebane, Denton, Bryson City and Burgaw.
Nothing could be finer than to set out on a pristine morning in June and hit the North Carolina backroads.
Come along, won’t you? This summer I’m blogging from the road. Join me at carrborocommons.org or weblogs.jomc.unc.edu/bluehighways.