Editorial: Newspapers drive good communities

Some of my earliest memories of my Dad are of him reading the funny pages to me on Sunday morning. I would crawl up in his lap or on the arm of his rocking chair and lose myself in the adventures of Nancy and Sluggo, Alley Oop, Rick O’Shay, the Peanuts gang, Prince Valiant, and Mark Trail.

Dad also read the paper the rest of the week… every day of the week. It was just part of his routine. He took the afternoon Amarillo Globe-Times and read every section of it literally from cover to cover. And, of course, once a week he added The Donley County Leader to that list of “must read” material.

He didn’t go to bed until he had read the paper, and as a result, he was one of the most knowledgeable men I ever knew about general information and current events. He stayed abreast of everything that was going on. It was such a part of his daily life. It is no wonder then that his obituary photo – if you could zoom out from the cropping we did on it – is one of him sitting in our den, reading the newspaper.

He took great pride in the work of The Clarendon Enterprise, and I have no doubt that, if he were here today, he would be bragging on his grandson, The Cub Reporter, every chance he was given.

Growing up in my family, the importance of the community newspaper was well understood. But it bears reaffirming in this modern age of iPads, smart phones, Facebook, and text messages. This week marks National Newspaper Week across America, and our industry’s theme this year is “Newspapers: The Foundation of Vibrant Communities.”

As graduate student at Texas Tech, I spent part of one summer studying the economies of 14 rural communities in the Texas Hill Country. I made it a habit to pick up the local newspaper everywhere I went, and I noticed one common thread right away. The strongest communities and the ones that had the most going on were the towns with the best newspapers. This was true regardless of the population of the town. The vibrancy of the community was reflected in the quality of the newspaper.

If you look around the Texas Panhandle, I think you’ll see that the same is true here. If you want to look at towns that are growing or are making things happen, you will likely find a strong voice in the local newspaper.

This is your newspaper. We cover your life from childhood and right up until they lay you to rest. It is in these pages that you find out not only about football games, pancake suppers, and cotton festivals, but also about tax notices, important meetings, and decisions that will impact your daily life. We also want you to think, and we therefore put forth opinions and editorials that are meant to drive positive change, improve our community, and give us all a better quality of life.

And we give you a voice to share your thoughts on important – and sometimes trivial – matters in order to encourage open and honest public debate.

Our job is to report, to editorialize, and to provide a platform for your voice. Your job is to read, to participate, and to pass that tradition on to the next generation. Working together, we will keep Clarendon moving forward and leave our kids with an energetic community that they will be proud to call home.