The Herald of Randolph is a weekly paper that has served
Randolph and the environs for decades. Newspaper publisher M. Dicky
Drysdale recently shared with other Vermont weekly newspapers a letter
from a reader that spells out how and why she values her local
newspaper. Excerpts follow:
"As I don't subscribe to The Herald of Randolph but I buy and
read it every week. I enjoy the excellent photography work, letters to
the editor, the dispatches from surrounding towns, and the editorials
and guest columns. But most of all I enjoy feeling connected to the
place where I do my shopping, pay my property tax, exchange small-talk
with tradesmen and shopkeepers, and find out the latest local event,
adventure, or misadventure. What was the column of smoke that I saw
rising out of the valley the other day? What was the deal with the rash
of burglaries in our area? And what will become of Michael Jacques?
What is the impact of the expansion of wilderness in our back yards, or
the flash flood that engulfed Hancock?
"After the first scoop, such news isn't usually considered newsworthy for the big syndicates and news services such as the New York Times, AP, USA Today, or even the Rutland Herald.
Their readers may have a passing interest in Vermont for whatever
'Vermont' means to them, but they are after more global fare.
"So who are we, the readers of a hometown weekly like The Herald of Randolph?
Our name is legion! We believe in local, first of all. As foodies
support farm-to-table and the sense of local community to be found in
farmers' markets, we support local news -- celebrations, tragedies, and
sometimes the moments when nothing is happening but a glorious sunrise
viewed from Braintree Hill and a golden retriever, eyes glowing with
anticipation, trotting eagerly toward us.
". . . Folks around the country and sometimes the world read The Herald not only to see their baby relatives, but to follow the happenings in
this valley and these towns, which they left sometimes for reasons not
of their choosing. They can vicariously 'go visiting' as they read the
school sports, see familiar names in news items, and find out about the
latest calamity.
"As the world becomes ever more spread out, linked only by the ether,
people seem to be reaching out for community. Bell Telephone used to
run a TV ad that said: 'Reach out and touch someone.' Now we reach out
in all kinds of disembodied ways: email, text-messaging, chat rooms,
social networking sites, you name it. But there really is nothing that
can replace the hometown weekly newspaper, as long as the publisher is
willing to keep publishing," this reader wrote to Drysale.
We concur.
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