Local News - More Important Than You Might Think

Dear Editor,

I applaud J. Patrick Reilly's editorial in last week's Chronicle listing the reasons why local newspapers are important. To his list I would add the role of a local paper in preserving a community's history. When a paper closes, so does an important part of the community's historical record.

We are fortunate to still have a dynamic local paper. According to a 2024 report by the Northwestern University Local News Initiative, since 2005 a third of all small town newspapers have closed. Even among the survivors, many have become shells of their former selves with reduced staff and minimal local coverage. 

A vibrant democracy depends on an informed citizenry. Especially in the troubled times we are living in we need more than national news. We need local reporting that helps us understand how the actions of the Federal government are impacting our local communities and how local governments and organizations are responding to those impacts. I hope to see the Chronicle step up its efforts in this regard.

Reilly commented in his editorial that he doubted that our President would be  celebrating National Newspaper Week. Indeed, Trump often categorizes the press as "the enemy of the people." Supporting you local paper is a small but important way of supporting our democracy. 

We should pay heed to this riff on Dietrich Biehoeffer's famous caution:

First they came for the journalists;

We don't know what happened next.      

Allen Pincus

Barneveld, WI