Our Viewpoint: Keeping it local

Earlier this summer, in the June 13 edition of The Ledger, the Question of the Week asked people if they read the local newspapers. One of the six people said they read The Ledger. Other answers were getting news from friends or a spouse or a parent, or not paying attention to the news at all. It was a bit shocking to see those answers, but it was also a very good question to ask.

   Recently someone commented to me about that question of the week and didn't know why we asked it. It's a sobering statistic  for local newspapers if only one person out of six actually reads it.

   True that many people get their "news" from social media. I tell people to use social media as a tool. See what's going on, then go find a reputable source (like a professional journalist) who has asked the questions of sources and gathered the facts. I use QuickBooks at The Ledger, and my accountant has always told me to use it as a tool to help me in business reporting. She stresses that I still need to know how to do computations and figure out things such as payroll, but  QuickBooks is a handy tool that automates some of those processes.

   I don't think newspapers are going away, just as I don't think accountants or teachers are going away. Many things become automated, and other sources of "news" will come about, but in the end, people still look to professionals for trustworthy information.

   When I hear people talking about local news topics, I will often pipe in and make a joke of "I read that in The Ledger." If you're reading this, you subscribe or have picked up The Ledger at one of the vendors across the county. Thanks for supporting local journalism. We'll continue to do our best to provide local news to you.

   As always, if you have information about or from local events, feel free to email them to us at [email protected]. It's a big county and we do our best to be everywhere, but we always appreciate news tips and photos.

— Annie Wooden