Faithful readers of The New Era may recall the issue, several years ago in 2021, in which the top half of the front page was blank.
The point then was to demonstrate how critical the situation was for Oregon newspapers, which were seriously impacted by COVID. I remember writing an editorial explaining what that blank front page was about: a show of support with other newspapers across the state that did the same thing. I also remember writing (with thanks in my heart) that The New Era had successfully stayed afloat, avoided staff cuts, to continue to report Sweet Home’s news.
Unfortunately, that is not the case now.
As your newspaper, The New Era has reported a lot of local happenings over the past 95 years – thousands and thousands of stories about life here in East Linn County.
I apologize for the length of this editorial, but I want you to have the whole picture, so you’re going to get some very transparent details. This is hard.
By the end of December, my wife Miriam and I will need to make the very difficult decision as to whether to attempt to revive The New Era into a healthy sustainable local news source, or to walk away and let it die.
How We Got Here
Miriam and I operated The New Era for 18 years. In spring of 2023 we decided to accept an offer from a former employee, Chris Chapman, to purchase the newspaper. We weren’t really looking to “retire,” although I was over 60, but we also knew we needed to find a way to keep The New Era in good hands after we left and our experience with Chris gave us optimism that he would be able to do that.
We’ve always believed and publicly maintained that The New Era is Sweet Home’s newspaper and that our role was to manage and be caretakers for this institution, which was part of the community long before we purchased it from Alex and Debbie Paul in 2005. We wanted to hand it off to someone else who could develop The New Era into a news source that caters to a wider age range of readers. Chris has made great strides in branding, creating solid digital platforms, and mainstreaming many of the processes that go into producing a paper and online news.
Recently, though, Chris notified us that The New Era was in trouble. There are a lot of balls that have to be juggled to successfully run a newspaper in today’s world, and he told us he had had difficulty keeping all those in the air. He’d had trouble with turnover. Advertising had fallen off precipitously and the newspaper operation was in jeopardy.
He was right. When we analyzed the situation, we could see that The New Era was, quite honestly, short on staff, and close to collapse financially.
Why This Should Matter to You
So what would life be like in Sweet Home without a newspaper that faithfully reports what’s happening in the community?
Your local newspaper is essential in keeping you as informed, engaged and empowered as you want to be – and everybody, no matter how disinterested they think they are at this moment, will likely want to be informed, engaged and empowered at some point.
The New Era’s history in this community goes back nearly a century, almost as old as the city itself. It’s deep-rooted. It has been here for generations, telling the stories of the Sweet Home’s growth, struggles, and triumphs. It is part of the community’s identity, connecting the past with the present, and, depending on how this current situation works out, possibly future generations, giving residents a sense of belonging and continuity.
Researchers who have looked into the struggles facing newspapers have identified a variety of key impacts that can or will affect a local community that has lost its newspaper.
Less government accountability: Without a reporter in the room, government officials do not feel that presence and, frankly, can find it easier to go places they shouldn’t. The media provide constraints, public scrutiny of government activities. Government officials who are not experiencing scrutiny from the media may be less inclined to be transparent and responsible with public funds, and more prone to abuse of power. When you support your newspaper, your money helps pay the cost of keeping a reporter in the room.
Reduced civic engagement: Without access to local news, people are less likely to stay informed about community events, participate in local politics, or vote. Facebook and other popular social media generally do not cut it for voters looking for non-biased analysis of a candidate’s qualifications, experience and perspectives on issues – particularly on the local level. Typically, if such is provided, it’s by your newspaper. Maybe you’re not a regular reader, but if The New Era disappears, you will no longer have that option when you want to engage in public life.
Diminished sense of community: Not only do local newspapers report what’s happening in a community’s political and other arenas, but they also can play a role in fostering a shared identity and understanding within a community. They report on such elements of community life as sports and academic achievements, talented people and their accomplishments, volunteerism, exceptional endeavors and successes, the unique accomplishments of individuals who might otherwise go unrecognized.
Unlike the broad and sensational topics that dominate national news and people’s personal devices, The New Era is hyper-local in its coverage of politics, local organizations and local activities that might otherwise go entirely unreported or publicized in the sensationalized context of social media. If activities, trends or challenges within a community are not reported accurately and sensitively, how can the community respond to them?
Newspapers provide local relevance.
Lost historical record: Your children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and others can find details about life in Sweet Home through archived newspapers. The New Era staff regularly fields questions from people, often on social media, about the history of an event, person or place in the city. Unless the answer can be dredged up by a still-living person’s memory or a book written on the matter, one of the few other places to find rich details is in your local newspaper. A couple of recent examples include details about why Frontier Days was renamed Sportsman’s Holiday (and answering the question about whether it was named after the Sportsman family or sportsmen in general), and the history of the Church Mouse building.
A hundred years – or even a decade – from now, will your descendants be able to find quotes from residents, details from meetings, and factual information about anything, really, from social media platforms that may no longer even exist in the future?
Community newspapers have always been one of the best one-stop-shop, go-to sources for rich details that future generations will appreciate.There is little reason to depend on social media’s ability to provide accurate, historical information dating several decades – or even centuries – back. How often have you fruitlessly searched for something on social media that you know you saw just a week ago?
Increased political polarization: Newspapers can provide access to diverse political viewpoints, usually in a non-confrontational (even-handed) tone and manner. When all people listen to is commentary and purported news that confirms their biases, that’s not healthy for a community.
Social media are notorious for the spread of incomplete or outright false information. Communities without a newspaper tend to become more divided along political lines.
Potential for misinformation: When a community lacks a reliable news source, it is subject to all manner of false or misleading information, perpetuated (consciously or unconsciously) by individuals or entities that may not be committed to truth and integrity.
Absent Economic Contribution: Despite the competition from social media, community newspapers continue to provide a very affordable option for businesses seeking to promote themselves to local people, who are the most likely to become loyal customers.
Newspapers also provide business coverage, stories about local entrepreneurs, and generally provide visibility to small businesses, which contribute to a thriving local economy. I don’t think I’m the only one who appreciates business news that is fair, if not sycophantic.
Absence of In-Depth Reporting: What you get from social media, radio and TV is usually cursory, at best. Even though the newspaper can’t do all we’d like to – mostly because of staff limitations, I don’t think anybody would argue that they can’t get more in-depth coverage from The New Era than from other sources, other than maybe one-on-one with knowledgeable sources (which are the people we get our news from). No newspaper, no in-depth reporting at all.
So here’s the point: Now, five years short of its centennial, The New Era, which has provided all of the above, is facing the end – unless you, the community are able to step up.
How Can We Correct This Situation?
Your help is needed to keep The New Era alive.
I’m confident that Miriam and I have the demonstrated ability and knowledge necessary to run a successful newspaper and, with proper staffing, restore it to financial health. January through March, though, are the leanest months for newspaper revenue and so, of course, that just makes this more difficult. Unfortunately, if we make the attempt to restore The New Era, we cannot personally provide all the financial resources that we anticipate will be necessary to make it through these low-revenue months.
The New Era is a service – to you. I can honestly say that while we made a modest – sustainable – living from the newspaper operations when we owned The New Era, we didn’t draw large take-home checks. Since I left The New Era, I’ve spent a lot of time as a substitute teacher in local schools and I can honestly say I make a better living doing that than I did as publisher of your newspaper.
But I believe that Sweet Home’s residents will be the losers if their newspaper disappears. If you agree, then the question is what can you do to help?
– Businesses can help by advertising, promoting themselves on the pages of the local newspaper as often as possible.
– Individuals can help by purchasing subscriptions – I know the increased price has been a stretch for many, but it’s still a lot better deal, frankly, than even buying a cup of coffee once a week in today’s economy.
– Anyone who doesn’t need to advertise, can simply contribute. We did a little quick math and if every subscriber were to contribute $10, that would be enough to meet the needed additional funding to keep the paper in the black for a month. If you can give more, that would help for the future months.
You can be sure that, if you step up and we are able to move forward, you will be kept apprised of how we’re doing. We are concerned about keeping this transparent. We will report, honestly, what we’ve received and how we’re spending it as long as it takes to get this thing turned around.
For more details you can contact me or Miriam personally, email us at [email protected] or [email protected] (yep, our old email addresses), call me or Miriam at (541) 367-2135, or stop by at 1313 Main St. after 11 a.m. on any weekday other than Tuesday.
We thank you in advance for your consideration! Sweet Home is a “can do!” community, we have seen you rally for many needy situations. We would love to see The New Era continue for many generations to come!
Donations can be sent to: The New Era, 1313 Main Street, Sweet Home, OR 97386
Prefer to use your credit card? Stop by the office or call us at (541) 367-2135.