If you are a regular reader of the Boothbay Register/Wiscasset Newspaper, chances are you’re reading this online and not in the print edition of the newspapers. This isn’t surprising, more and more of us are getting our news and other information from digital sources. And as you may have heard, daily and weekly newspapers across America are finding it more challenging to attract subscribers for their print editions.

Just recently the Portland Press Herald announced beginning in March, it would no longer print a Monday newspaper. This doesn’t mean its news staff will have the day off. Stories and features written for that day will instead only appear within the digital edition, which by the way people must subscribe to.

There’re lots of theories why newspaper readership has fallen off. The one heard most is that social media is causing newspaper coverage to become irrelevant in the digital age. It’s just easier for people to pull out their smartphone and check out what’s on Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. With that said, websites for weekly newspapers like the Boothbay Register, Wiscasset Newspaper and Penobscot Bay Pilot are getting better and better. They now contain much more information than what’s found in the print editions. Many digital publications also offer a handy search option on their websites to pull up past articles of interest.

I still enjoy seeing and reading the print editions – the small-town weeklies best of all. No matter where I happen to be, I always look for a local newspaper. There’s no better way to learn something about a place than reading what’s in the local newspaper. For me this is the most disturbing emotion about seeing these small-town weeklies and daily newspapers closing. Something very important is being lost that added relevance and clarity to the communities they served.

The most important function of a local newspaper is to provide the community with information – news of births, deaths, marriages, anniversaries, fires, accidents, arrests, real estate transactions, plus what’s happening in the elementary and high schools, and in the local business community. All of that, along with reporting on the goings on at the town office and county courthouse.  

You can’t get this information in one package from Facebook, or any other social media platform. What you get instead is very often a myopic viewpoint at its best and at its worst a mischaracterization of the facts. But the really important difference between newspapers and social media is that newspaper content online or in print is gathered and edited by professionals, people trained to gather facts and report the news. Not so with social media, where anyone can post whatever they want with impunity.

That is the best reason I can think of for why we need newspapers, particularly the dailies and weeklies that cover small communities like ours. Online or printed, they’re still our best sources of accurate news and information. They contain stories that define who we are as communities and also provide a reference source for generations to come. Maybe you agree.

Phil Di Vece earned a B.A. in journalism studies from Colorado State University and an M.A. in journalism at the University of South Florida. He is the author of three Wiscasset books and is a frequent news contributor to Wiscasset Newspaper and Boothbay Register. He resides in Wiscasset. Contact him at pdivece@roadrunner.com