You hold in your hand a copy of the local newspaper.
It is a collection of reports, news, commentaries and advertisements all focused on your community, the place you have chosen to live, work, retire or raise a family. It is just as likely that you are reading these words on a computer screen or from a device that fits in your pocket. In either case, most of you still refer to this compendium of views and news as a newspaper.
But we, the journalists who gather, report, write and publish your newspaper, have a different definition of our work. We believe what you actually hold in your hands is a set of solutions to your small, mid-sized, urgently important and not-so-vital problems. The front page news articles solve your need to know what is happening in your neighborhood, town or local government. In the middle of the paper you find this week’s grocery bargains and fresh produce selection. Your favorite charity is having a fundraiser you’ll want to support when you read it in our weekly community calendar. The police log solves your curiosity about why the sirens sounded last Friday night. And, when you turn to the sports page, you’ll update your feelings of pride in our young scholar-athletes. The advertisements by plumbers, dentists, hair stylists, lawyers and other local services and professionals offer you a finger-tip answer to any unexpected need to solve a leaky faucet, personal grooming need or family planning dilemma.
We call this “solutions journalism.” It is another term for what smaller, community-focused newspapers are all about. Sometimes the solutions come from our news reporting and sometimes they are supplied by the paid advertisements we also publish. You may not care which is which, just so long as you get the answer, result or product you need.
We put our greatest efforts and amount of time in sourcing the news, answering reader inquiries and getting all our facts straight. But we could not do our journalism jobs without the support of the local businesses and organizations that buy ads and put their “solutions” in front of you, our thousands of readers. Together, as journalists and local advertisers, we can’t solve all your problems each and every week. But when more local businesses pay for more advertisements, our weekly newspaper gets filled with that much more useful news, printed conversations and shopping tips.
This week’s newspaper has a large extra section devoted to a specific problem in urgent need of a solution. That problem is underage use of e-cigarettes and the public health crisis over too many new users of addictive tobacco and nicotine. Our reporting seeks to raise awareness to this problem and hopes to outline some possible longer-range solutions. We believe “solutions journalism” must include more than just printed words. That is why we are hosting two community forums on the topic on May 2 at Healdsburg High School and May 22 at Analy High School. All are invited.
A newspaper offers a unique opportunity to bring all ages, generations and cultures together. We may live in different neighborhoods, but we share the same local news and local advertising. Where else but the newspaper do we learn what other volunteers, civic groups or nonprofits are doing because we might be too busy doing our own volunteering or fundraising?
Often, the best solutions don’t happen without debate, some controversy and compromise. This newspaper offers a solution to this quandary by serving as a trusted public forum where different views and proposed solutions are all treated fairly.
Such is the power of local advertising. You will not find any paid ads in our special section on teenage vaping. But, we must thank all our regular advertisers for supporting our solutions journalism over the course of a year and now centuries.
Like the weekly news you are holding in your hand, local solutions aren’t free either.
— Rollie Atkinson
