by David Hill
Editor

Recently, I’ve been mulling over what my grandfather would make of my career in newspapers. He was a pressman at the Huron Plainsman in Huron, S.D., and he died before I had finished third grade.

I always had a sense that he was proud of the profession. He wrote a letter to what is now the Star Tribune in Minneapolis once and it was published. My mother and uncles told me he was very proud that it was published. However, I have no further information or details about the letter or even his long career as a pressman. I wish I did.

I often imagine that my grandfather would be astonished, maybe even thunderstruck by the changes that have taken place in the newspaper industry during the last 55 years. I’m surprised myself. When I started at The Times over 38 years ago, other than the Compugraphic in the back office, we worked with typewriters, two of which were manual. There have been a lot of cultural changes as well. On publishing days – Monday and Wednesday for The Times, and Friday/Saturday for the shopper – cigarette smoke hung thick in the air, and the sound of clacking typewriters was so loud one could hardly think. I’m trying to remember how much we charged for a single copy. Was it 10 cents? I think I remember the jump to 25 cents, and then $1. Today, we’re charging $1.50. These increases help us pay for the increasing costs of printing newspapers and continue to provide you with a quality product.

The newspaper industry is facing many challenges – increased cost of ink, news print, utility bills, benefits, and salaries. We have lots of other challenges – postal delays, lack of interactivity, increased competition for readers, a general decline in the reading culture, and a willingness to accept uninformed opinion as fact from a variety of questionable sources. These changes have forced a lot of small newspapers to close their doors.

Surviving newspapers are doing what they can to address those challenges. Providing online content is one way; although, I still like a cup of coffee with a newspaper in the morning. It’s much more satisfying than a laptop or small cell phone screen. You get to see so much more, and get a feel for what’s really happening in your community.

I recall too that small town newspapers used to include national stories. For a small fee, they used to get copy from sources like AP or UPI. Today, local newspapers, like ours, are almost entirely focused on what’s happening in their communities. The cost of those news services may be a reason why you don’t see it anymore. It’s just as well because we’re better off focusing on our own backyard.

Today, local newspapers focus on what’s happening at meetings of city councils, county boards, and school boards. Who else but the fourth estate would hold local leaders to any degree of responsibility and accountability? Who else would sit through a two hour or longer meeting, and note the changes in budgets, the new programs, and even the personal attacks and then spend an equal amount of time writing those stories for you?

Newspapers of today are focused on their communities, what’s hurting them, how they can grow and often on students and their academic and athletic successes. They are the future of our community, and, after all, parents and grandparents are very proud and want everyone to know.

I like to look at the advertisements in older newspapers. There have been huge differences in the cost of products. In a sense, newspapers are no different. Costs have certainly increased. Yes, newspapers are still here, and, yes, readers will continue to receive a lot of value for $1.50 or whatever price it takes to print a newspaper.