Getting our news has suddenly changed dramatically

Glens Falls High makes the transition to a new mascot without acrimony, lawsuits

By Ken Tingley

The last part of the routine at our daily newspaper was proofing the newspaper.

After finishing layout and production of the pages, three or four people remained waiting for the press to start and check the newspaper. After hearing an initial whine shortly after midnight, then a roar that shook the walls, one of us would go out to the press room and grab a handful of papers as they rolled off the press.

I never got tired of seeing that miracle as the press rolls spun and a completed newspaper came out the other end.

It was magical.

It was the final affirmation for our day’s work.

Three or four of us would sit in the newsroom and scan each page in silence, looking for “busted heads” or stories that didn’t continue to a page inside.

We scanned a second time to make sure the headlines made sense, then looked for typos in the captions of photographs.

Occasionally, a curse word broke the silence and we knew someone had found a mistake. That person jump back on the computer so that the page could be replated on the press.

It was tedious, but important work.

Some years ago, that tradition stopped when The Post-Star moved its printing operation south to Schenectady.

Another shoe dropped this past weekend when Lee Enterprises announced the Glens Falls newspaper would no longer print daily. It was reducing publication to three times a week (Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday).

This did not shock me. Other newspapers had done it as well.

During speaking engagements over the past six months, I was often asked about the future of newspapers. I said I expected the product would be reduced in frequency. When I was editor - I retired in 2020 - I advocated printing one less day a week to help us with staffing.

Printing three times a week is not unprecedented in the newspaper industry. The Syracuse newspapers have been printing three times a week for more than 10 years.

The Poynter Report, a five times a week online newsletter that follows news and trends in journalism, reported this week at least 30 of Lee Enterprises newspapers will be reducing its print frequency, including some of its largest newspapers - the St. Louis Post Dispatch, the Buffalo News and the Omaha World-Herald.

It also reported all but 20 of Lee’s newspapers will see reductions and the company is also implemented cost-saving measures such as layoffs and unpaid furloughs due to advertising declines.

As someone who spent 41 years working for daily newspapers, it is a sad day. I guess I’m a horse-and-buggy journalist in a digital world.

As I traveled around the region talking about my book, “The Last American Newspaper,” the past six months, I pointed out the benefits our community reaped from the journalism we did. Listeners often recoiled at the thought of reading the news online.

Many insisted they had to be able to hold the paper in their hands.

But the newspaper may have buried the lead when announcing the reduction in print days. The newspaper is also going to be delivered by the Post Office. That means readers will get the newspaper later in the day.

Most of us who developed our newspaper addiction over the years are used to heading to the mailbox first thing in the morning to retrieve the newspaper and read it over breakfast, although as child I remember reading an evening newspaper that arrived in the late afternoon.

Those routines - while not insurmountable - will be difficult to change.

Some years ago, I decided to spend an entire month reading our digital product exclusively to see if I could make the change. By reading on a tablet, I found the experience acceptable. But I also found I missed important content like columns and editorials because they were not on the home page.

I discovered the print product was a marvel at leading the reader through the information that was most important in their lives. The digital product did not do that as well, although it had more stories, photos and something the newspaper did not - video.

One reader said she liked reading the E-edition which was an online replication of the actual newspaper.

Many agreed with that.

My book, “The Last American Newspaper,” not only showed the importance of community newspapers, but it asked the question who will do the journalism as print products disappear.

One of my hopes was online publications like the Foothills Business Daily would continue to grow and fill in the gaps of coverage in communities around the region.

But one day after The Post-Star’s announcement, Steve Thurston announced it was the final day for his publication.

Thurston said he had taken another position and details would be announced in the coming days.

I interviewed Thurston earlier this year about his publication and his hopes for the future. He seemed generally optimistic, although he had yet to turn a profit. He was offering a yearly subscription for $36, but I suspect that much of the public was still not ready to pay for their news online.

Until the general public appreciates the value of journalism in their communities - like it did with its printed newspaper - we will continue to see the erosion of local

news, and with it, the erosion of our communities in general.

Black Bears

Glens Falls High School announced its new mascot and logo this week. They will now be known as the Glens Falls Black Bears.

The state education department had ordered high schools across the state to retire Indian-themed mascots. Using a committee that included students, alumni and administration, the process has gone smoothly in Glens Falls.

Unlike in Cambridge - which was also named the Indians - there has been no lawsuits costing hundreds of thousands of dollars and acrimonious backlash at board of education meetings.

Glens Falls will retain its black and red school colors and still refer to itself as “GF Nation.”

Treat Williams dead

Last October, Grant Cottage hosted a gala of epic proportions that included celebrities and politicians. One of them was Hollywood actor Treat Williams, who was working on a play on the life of Ulysses S. Grant.

As part of the festivities, Williams treated the audience to a reading from a scene from the play.

On Monday, Williams was killed when the motorcycle he was riding collided with another car in Dorset, Vt. He was transported to Albany Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.

Grant Cottage released this statement: “Treat Williams was a great friend of Grant Cottage and a member of our Board of Trustees. He had been working with Cottage staff and volunteers to produce a one-man show on General Grant, a segment of which he performed at our fundraising Gala last October. His death is a tragic loss to all who knew him personally and who experienced his creative work on stage and screen. Our condolences to his wife Pam Van Sant and his two children.”