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To the Editor:
Local newspapers are the informational lifeblood of a community. Some time ago Pulitzer Prize recipient Art Cullen, editor of the Storm Lake Pilot, wrote an article capturing the importance of local newspapers to their communities.
That article is summarized here from another source: "Cullen's article emphasizes that local newspapers like the Storm Lake Times are vital for community cohesion because they connect residents, foster trust, and keep people informed about issues that matter most in their daily lives. He argues that local papers serve as the 'backstop' for the community, covering everything from high school sports to local government, ensuring that important events and concerns don't go unnoticed. Cullen points out that local journalism builds trust by being present in the community, sharing stories that reflect residents' experiences, and holding local authorities accountable. He warns that the decline of local newspapers threatens civic engagement, as fewer people will have access to reliable information about their own towns. Ultimately, Cullen calls for renewed investment and participation in local journalism, stressing that the survival of these papers is crucial for maintaining informed, resilient, and unified communities."
That quote has direct relevance for the Freeman Journal.
Anyone living in Hamilton County, especially Webster City, probably takes the Freeman Journal for granted. They shouldn't. Hamilton Countians are lucky to have such a resource.
I'll support that idea by making a contrast. I live in a California community – Los Osos – of 14,000 in San Luis Obispo County. Our county has a couple of shoppers published biweekly. The county seat, the city of San Luis Obispo, has a population of 50,000 in a county of 280,000. The main newspaper for the county, the San Luis Obispo County Tribune, publishes a print newspaper twice a week, and an online version.
By contrast, my home town of Webster City has a population of 7600, the county of Hamilton has a population of 14,700, yet the community has a daily newspaper covering all aspects of local news, sports, social events, and a respectable amount of state and national news. Hamilton Countians know more about what's going on in local education, sports, city government and county government than would be known without the FJ. And they know one heckuva lot more than I know about what's going on where I live.
The long-term survival of the Freeman Journal is very important to the community, and that survival is largely contingent on community support. "Support" in this sense refers to at least two related factors, paper subscribership and advertising sales. A simple concept I learned from my dad, a former newspaper owner and publisher, is that businesses are more likely to buy newspaper advertising if they know a larger percent of the population will see their ads.
Subscribing to the paper is important because a lot of advertising revenue is predicated on size of predicted readership, and actually, patronizing newspaper advertisers may be more important. Hamilton Countians are sitting on a gem. Please support and protect it.
Bill Matthew (subscriber)
Former resident and current subscriber to Daily Freeman Journal
Los Osos, CA