Newspapers - A community love story

`The Last American Newspaper’ chronicles the difference one publication made

By Ken Tingley

The questions have become commonplace, not only to journalists like myself, but perhaps to regular people around the dinner table.

“Who do I trust? What should I believe?”

Perhaps, it was always lurking in the background between readers and the journalists who did the reporting. But now it is front and center. Ultimately, I think the local reporters and editors were trusted more often than not, but that was before politicians poisoned the waters and a broken business model diminished the product.

So, I am asking you again to listen again because I have something important to tell you.

For 40 years, I gave my heart and soul to the newspapers I worked at. The last 21 years was spent leading a news effort by an incredibly talented group of journalists at The Post-Star.

We were an essential read in the Glens Falls region.

We made a difference.

We made people think.

And we sometimes made them angry.

We were not alone in that endeavor. Small community newspapers all around the country did the same work daily with often the same results.

When I became editor of the newspaper in 1999, I started writing a “From the Managing Editor” column twice a week where I talked directly to readers and explained why we did what we did. The goal was to have a regular conversation with readers.

It was a conversation that continued for more than two decades and provided the road map for a new book called “The Last American Newspaper.” It provided the insights into why we did stories, what I was thinking and how the readers were responding.

The book is not my story.

It draws back the curtain on how our newspaper did the work and the men and women who made lives and careers out of that work.

Over time, the work was taken for granted.

The difference it made was often forgotten or overlooked.

We need to get that back.

Gary Kebbel, who was managing editor of The Post-Star in the 1980s and hired me as sports editor in 1988, sums it up this way:

“In the best of times, a community newspaper is a super citizen, serving as a watchdog on powerful people and established institutions. It pushes citizens to engage with one another so that together they can discover, consider and solve problems that affect the quality of life for everyone. No other person or institution takes on this role. If the newspaper doesn’t have a strong publisher and editor with a good and sufficient staff, then problems fester unattended until they become the giant pothole that breaks your car’s axel.”

It’s as good a description as any for the important work community newspapers do.

Ten years before same-sex marriage was made law in New York, a young reporter at The Post-Star wrote about “Growing Up Gay” in the Adirondacks. The story was controversial and made people uncomfortable and angry. It was the beginning of an important dialogue in our community where a decade later it was a Republican state senator who provided a key vote to pass same-sex marriage.

When eight teens died in underage drinking accidents over a three-year period, the newspaper addressed the issue in a month-long series called “The Cost of Fun” that gradually changed attitudes and saved lives. Ten years later it was still one of the newspaper’s core values.

When one of our editors witnessed an estranged husband shoot his wife to death in the Cumberland Farms parking lot in Glens Falls, the newspaper embarked on a project to tell the stories of more than 20 domestic violence survivors from its region. It showed our idyllic “Hometown, USA” was not unique when it came to domestic violence.

“Tingley asks the question that clearly drives him to write this book: “Who is going to do the journalism of the future?” Kebbel writes in the foreward. “Left unsaid is a fear that also propels the passion in this book: Perhaps no one. And a greater fear: Will the community notice, will it care?”

That’s why I’m writing to you today.

My experience from my readers in the past is that you have always cared passionately about what happens to this community and its local newspaper.

I believe you have noticed.

I believe you do care.

First and foremost, this book will remind you of the great work that was done and how it made a difference. You will read about the people behind those stories and their dedication and devotion. At its heart, this is a story about people.

It’s important to remember that great work to understand what we are losing.

“Across America, community newspapers are in deep trouble as more than 35,000 local journalists have lost jobs since 2008. The result is lower civic engagement, less accountability among local leaders, and the critical loss of a catalyst for positive change,” former Post-Star Publisher David Stoeffler said. “Ken Tingley’s book, `The Last American Newspaper,’ is a clarion call for citizens who are rightly concerned about who is going to do the kind of journalism needed in a democracy. Tingley’s account of the talented and dedicated staff of The Post-Star – and the increasing financial, corporate and political challenges faced in his 21 years as editor – is a microcosm of the triumphs and challenges experienced by community newspapers in hometowns across the U.S.A. Tingley’s writing is as clear as his message.”

This is an important message, not only for Glens Falls but in rural small-town communities all across the country. The value of that journalism needs to be understood.

“The Last American Newspaper” was released this week by McFarland Books. I’m urging you to give it your attention in the coming weeks and months. The future of our communities may depend on it.

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