What About This?

By Wayne Cipriano

On Thursday, December 12, 2019, we received our copy of the Douglas County Herald (DCH), and we were so very pleased by it. 

Very recently we noted a lot of conversation about the value of local newspapers and then an edition of the DCH comes out and emphasizes that thesis. Besides the regular features and ads that so many find informative and useful, there were the “specials.”

The continuation of the march of the Ava Football Bears toward the State Championship was very interesting. Then there was the Christmas Section. Where else will we read more than just one or two letters to Santa besides the DCH? The ads and the well-wishes and Christmas Greetings were colorfully Christmasy and quite eye-catching. 

We were captivated by “Twas The Night Before Christmas (at the DCH)” and all those who created it should be thanked, even Ashley Lane who contributed such a very small part. The “Special Thoughts About Christmas” from the DCH staff struck a chord of nostalgia with us, over and over, and when we arrived at Bridget Loftin’s remembrance, we appreciated her brevity.

Being an axe-man over chainsaw wielder when possible, I identified with Jack Evergreen.

And then there were two articles and one extensive “Letter To The Editor” concerning, seemingly interminably, the School Board/Transport Saga. I’ll reserve my thoughts on these issues for another time. If there were no local newspaper, how would we encounter these issues besides attending the School Board meetings, and action that has caused death by boredom in several cases? Confusing though it might be, where else would this information be available?

It may sound self-serving of me to hype the newspaper that carries my column, but it is more than that. Besides a quick mention of the Bears game on a local television station, what other features and information of the December 12 DCH did we experience elsewhere?

Even though the Publisher of the DCH is too busy, too penurious, too whatever to put on a small Christmas party for the staff that works so diligently for her in return for Scrooge-like wages, and the contributors and columnists such as myself who slave for her receiving nothing but a free subscription to the paper, we all continue on, compensated, at least in part, by the knowledge that we are serving members of our community by informing or amusing, or sometimes even both.

This newspaper represents a surprisingly valuable capital asset to its owners that could be sold pretty much in a New York second to one of the huge chains of “local” newspapers. After which just about all the information, flavor, and employment would be filtered out of the DCH.

In my opinion, it is a testament to their concern about dedication to, and affection for Douglas County that they refuse to take the cash and split.

At least for now.