Almost daily, we hear reports of businesses and institutions that are faltering or going out of business due to the challenges of our struggling economy.
Few places is the heat quite as extreme as in the newspaper industry. Already faced with rapidly changing readership habits, vastly altered technology and staggering increases in the cost of newsprint, ink and postage, it seems the newspaper industry has been a primary target for failure.
To be sure, the newspaper world has experienced some extreme changes. Small, locally owned publications are selling out to larger, corporate chain operations, advertisers are beginning to disseminate their messages via the Internet, and younger generations are demanding the delivery of news in a faster, more immediate fashion than what the print media has traditionally provided.
"And so, what is the future of our hometown newspaper?" you may well ask. "Is it part of a dying breed, one that will it become extinct along with the Baby Boomer generation?"
Gladly, indications show that's highly unlikely. A recent three-year study by the National Newspaper Association (NNA) shows that some 86 percent of adults read a local community newspaper each week, up from 83 percent in 2007 and 81 percent in 2005.
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"We learned three years ago that we had a different story to tell, and with this most recent update, we again prove that our initial findings hold up," said John Stevenson, president of the NNA.
Locally, our story is much the same. It's highly unlikely you'll ever hear or read the news of the people and events of Carlton County on CNN, CSPAN, or AOL. Echoing Stevenson's statement, "We have a different story to tell," and it's one that local readers want to hear.
While the Pine Journal's print readership continues to remain basically strong, we have also adapted to the changing times with our Web site, which brings the news of Carlton County to readers on a day-to-day (and, at times, an hour-to-hour) basis.
For example, during the days leading up to Tuesday's general election, the number of people accessing our Web site essentially doubled, going from a daily average of 1,100 to 2,200 as readers sought our ongoing news reports of local candidates and races.
On election day and the day following, over 1,000 folks had gone to the Pine Journal Web site by midmorning each day, no doubt seeking news on local voter turnout and results that aren't available anywhere but through your local media.
There's a reason we're here - the same reason that we hope will keep us here for many years to come.
Wendy Johnson
