BT04172020 - Page 12

oped OP-ED: Communities need their newspapers, and newspapers need their community BY JUDY PATRICK From afar, the COVID-19 pandemic is generating news of such terrifying magnitude that it is nearly too overwhelming to comprehend. Millions are suffering and thousands are dying. Economies are collapsing. The world seems out of control. That’s the big picture, which you can learn about from innumerable print, web and broadcast news outlets. But it’s in the pages of local newspapers that this terrible news hits home. Through stories of sickness and of death, of brave healthcare workers and struggling small business owners, local journalists are documenting their communities. In hard-hit New York City, dozens of local newspapers are chronicling the challenges neighborhood by neighborhood. As the virus spreads beyond metropolitan New York, the chronicling extends, paper by paper. In each, above all are the stories of the lives that have been lost, touching tributes to much loved grandfathers and grandmothers, principals and store clerks, police officers and nurses. �� BRONX TIMES R 12 EPORTER, APR. 17-23, 2020 BTR Next come the stories of isolation and loss as the life of a community is put on hold: Funerals, weddings, Little League baseball, high school proms, senior citizen trips and college graduations. The list goes on and on. Finally come are the tales of generosity and hope, of thousands of rainbows hung in windows and drawn in chalk on sidewalks, of food drives for the aff licted, of music and art and of the million small kindnesses of one person to another. Years from now, these stories will be part of the historical record of this pandemic. Right now, however, they serve a far greater purpose: They are helping communities come together to mourn, to support and to hope. To eventually go forward and heal, we first need to understand what is happening to the people we know and the businesses we rely on. Local newspapers are also where many stories begin. Here you’ll learn about upstate dairy farmers forced to dump milk, how Finger Lakes wineries are adapting to the shutdown, the slow startup to the federal small business stimulus program on the East End of Long Island, the re-tooling of a Granville slate company to make face shields for healthcare workers and efforts to safeguard our food supply chain by protecting farmland. These are the stories that set local newspapers apart from anything you’ll see and read via bigger outlets. Each paper is telling its community’s unique set of stories about death and heroism and struggle. And for communities in crisis, this personalization is key to grappling with this pandemic. There are practical benefits as well. In times of crisis, local newspapers have long been a clearinghouse of essential information such as phone numbers, emergency food distribution plans, road closures and boil water orders. Nowadays, with much of this information scattered online, newspapers are adapting and collating. Take The Daily News and Livingston County News in Batavia, for example. They’ve established a COVID-19 Community Support Map pinpointing locations of blood drives, food pickup spots and medical services. The map quickly became the most popular feature on the paper’s website. All of this is how local newspapers bring communities together. It’s just one reason they’re so important. While their watchdog role in sustaining our democracy will always be paramount, and one that’s become a crucial part of the ongoing story, this shared commitment to community is shining right now. Local newspapers care – always have and always will. It’s what sets them apart from all other media, even Facebook. They will be at the zoning board meeting you care about, at your Fourth of July parade and your high school graduation. They will write about the kindergarten class trip to the pumpkin farm as well as the school budget, food banks for the hungry as well as which takeout joint has the best burgers. They’ve been around so long it’s easy to take them for granted. But they are in danger, especially now that local businesses that provide crucial advertising revenue have closed. There’s a lot of news you can access for free. Many local newspapers have even temporarily dropped their paywalls on their virus-related content. The gesture ref lects their mission to go above and beyond to serve their communities in a time of crisis. But news really isn’t free. It’s costly to produce. Reporters, photographers, editors, printers, advertising representatives and support staff deserve and need a paycheck for the work they do. To do that, newspapers need the people in those Fourth of July parades and at those school board meetings to subscribe. Now, more than ever, they need their communities. Judy Patrick is the vice president for editorial development for the New York Press Association. Via PixaBay Display Advertising Rates & Deadlines: A copy of The Bronx Times Reporter Advertising Rates is available on request. Display deadline is the Friday prior to publication. Camera ready copy deadline is the Monday preceding publication. Classified Deadlines: To place a Classified Ad call (718) 260-2555 or email classified@schnepsmedia.com. Deadline: 3 p.m. Tuesday prior to publication. Legal Notice Deadlines: For Legal Advertising call (718) 260-3977 or email dwilson@schnepsmedia.com. Deadline: 12 p.m. Monday prior to publication. Letters To The Editor: Readers are encouraged to send us their viewpoints. Name and address must be included, but will be withheld upon request. Letters should be as brief as possible, not exceeding 200 words. News Items: Readers are welcome to suggest news items of interest. Call the Editorial Department at (718) 260-4597 or e-mail to bronx times@schnepsmedia.com. Around Town: Announcements of birthdays, weddings, anniversaries, etc. will gladly be published. All announcements must be mailed to the Bronx Times Reporter 3604 East Tremont Avenue, Bronx, NY 10465, before the Friday preceding publication. No phone calls please. Community Calendar: Civic organizations, churches, synagogues and special interest groups can have their special event dates announced free of charge. Mail should be addressed to Community Calendar and received no later than the Friday preceding publication. Subscription Rates: Yearly subscriptions are $26.00; 2 years for $40.00, within Bronx county. Out of county subscriptions are $50.00 per year. Change Of Address: Any problems or inquiries regarding a present subscription must be accompanied by the mailing label from your newspaper showing complete name, address and subscription number (top left corner). Copyright © 2020 by Bronx CNG LLC. All rights reserved. Neither this newspaper nor any part thereof may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, recording or by an information retrieval system without the express written permission of the publisher. This copyright is extended to the design and text created for advertisements. Reproduction of said advertisement or any part thereof without the express written permission of Bronx Times Reporter, Inc. is strictly prohibited. �� link link link link link link