COLUMN: Should we tell our story?

     The other day I came across a newspaper column that I thought was amusing. The author stated: “You don’t see cigarette burns on the floors of newsrooms anymore. Supposedly, the people that work in them will live longer. But whether the papers they toil over will live is in much more doubt.”

     Think about that for a second. What would you do if your community newspaper went away? How would it affect you? Maybe not at all? I’m guessing that might be a common answer, although I sure hope not.

     But when communities do lose their newspapers, they lose some of their identity. Suddenly, there is no one around to tell their stories, to feature their kids, to share community gatherings, births, deaths, anniversaries.

     Dig a little deeper and you may see how you are affected in your pocketbook. Studies show that municipalities without a local newspaper are more costly for residents when the local newspaper is no longer holding officials accountable. Taxes tend to go up, issues are passed by local governments and they go unnoticed.

     Official community newspapers tend to scrutinize the inner workings of your city council, your school board and your elected county officials. You may not see it or read about it on a weekly basis but trust me, there are times we as a newspaper will have a conversation about something that may or may not seem right. I guess you would call that accountability.

     In referring back to the original newspaper column I quoted at the beginning of my column, the column’s debate was should we as newspapers tell our story as it relates to the ongoing threat of our nation’s pandemic?

     Personally, I hesitate when it comes to “telling our story.” No one wants to hear our problems, especially when many businesses are having issues of their own. But the more I thought about it, I changed my mind. Mostly because this week more than others, I fielded that question from several individuals.

     And what motivated me even more was seeing three Iowa newspapers close their doors in the last couple of weeks. Three well-run and well-respected Iowa newspapers. And they all closed their doors for the same reason: lack of advertising revenue.

     When many businesses closed their doors, newspapers stayed open as an essential business but saw revenues dip dramatically. We experienced the same thing. Thankfully our grocery store, our realtors and a few others are helping to pay bills. We’ve also learned to operate with three less employees (currently laid off), trimmed some fat when it comes to other expenses and being careful when it comes to spending, i.e. donations or other less necessary needs.

     But that wasn’t enough to keep The Pella Chronicle open, a newspaper started in 1866. Or the Knoxville Journal-Express, started in 1874 and the Centerville Daily Iowegian, publishing since 1883. All three of these papers shut down on the same day.

     Before this is all said and done, I anticipate other Iowa newspapers closing their doors. Even as businesses in Iowa start to open, they are still cautiously opening and hesitant to advertise. As much as they would like to invites hordes of customers into their businesses, new rules set forth by our governor limits how many patrons can visit those businesses at any given time.

     For the time being, unfortunately for businesses like us, FREE advertising on Facebook and Instagram is about all we are seeing as these businesses do open up. Did you know about 90 percent of all ads on Facebook are not even seen in a timely manner? People scroll right by them at an average speed of 75 mph. I learned that at a seminar led by a Facebook employee.

     Fortunately for us we have a diversified business, with printing, office supplies and sign and decal work helping us. But advertising is what pays our bills, our weekly printing and postal bills that are always the same amount each week, regardless of how many ads we sell.

     Our community has done a great job of supporting their newspaper; we would like to thank everyone for that. Our goal is to stick around for a while!