Walter Hussman Jr. has, directly or indirectly, employed me for a big part of my career as a professional journalist.
It started in the summer of 1987 with an internship at The Sentinel-Record, a newspaper Hussman owns in Hot Springs. As a senior at Arkansas State University, I did my first work for Hussman's Arkansas Democrat. Expanding the merged Arkansas Democrat-Gazette into Northwest Arkansas was what brought me in 1996 to Fayetteville.
I worked four years in Texas, but the rest of my professional life, 27 years, has been working directly or indirectly for WEHCO, the parent company of this newspaper.
Hussman been making news himself about the future of newspapers. In a large part of the state (not Northwest Arkansas), he's developed a plan to offer iPads to subscribers who transition to receiving the newspaper electronically. The format looks just like the daily newspaper, but it has far more capabilities for photos, videos, enlarged type, etc.
Delivering the newspaper electronically largely eliminates costs of printing and physical delivery, but staffing a newspaper still costs money.
Changes in the advertising world, namely Google and Facebook sucking up huge portions of the digital advertising market, make such changes necessary for the long-term sustainability of the Democrat-Gazette. A newspaper has to be a profitable business, but I've long been thankful that Hussman also views the existence of a statewide newspaper as a civic imperative.
These changes aren't just disruption to the business. It's a disruption to longtime readers of newspapers, most of whom fully appreciate the value of the news, sports, features and editorial coverage of the Democrat-Gazette no matter what medium it's delivered on. Dramatic change, though, is tough for everyone.
What we journalists do day in and day out is focused on delivering important coverage to readers. That has been, and will be, a vital part of our communities and state.
Because newspapers are a business, I have never really paid much heed to the idea that people should subscribe out of a sense of civic duty. Give readers coverage they find valuable and they'll buy. But as the nation has seen newspapers close or their staffs shrink dramatically, I've started to understand the concern: The public needs to be informed, and journalists are needed to play the role of both watchdog and informer.
Think of the cautionary tale of Bell, California, which made national headlines in 2010. The smaller town existed with little news coverage, near Los Angeles. When the Los Angeles Times did pay attention, it discovered the town's leaders had over 20 years granted themselves massive salaries. The city manager went from $72,000 a year to more than $1 million. Part-time city council members made six-figure salaries, all it funded by taxpayers.
It happened because of greed. But it also happened because nobody paid attention, until the Los Angeles Times finely did.
Newspaper coverage isn't perfect. But I'm convinced our communities, state and nation will be far, far worse without it. Watching television to be informed is like reading Wikipedia to be educated: It's a start, but wholly inadequate.
As neighbors, we and our communities benefit from the now not-so-common base of knowledge newspapers have delivered for years. Informed citizens make for better government and communities. Apathetic and uninformed citizens leave room for government leaders to do whatever they want, and a blissfully ignorant public won't know about it until it's signed, sealed and delivered.
Undoubtedly, there is a lot of information out there these days, but it's my hope people will recognize the value of having local reporters covering the news and be willing to pay for it. Newspapers aren't wanting to just become part of the noise on the Internet. They've devoted more than a century working to be a reliable source for knowledge.
Many sites will want your clicks. What the people at this newspaper want is to continue earning your trust.
Commentary on 07/21/2019