What’s really in a newspaper

For most newspaper publishers across the state it’s not a question of what’s in a newspaper but rather what isn’t?

In my 44 years in the business I can answer the latter questions by saying, not much.

From automobile accidents to city council meetings, there’s truly something for everyone.

If you want to see what the city council is up to buy a paper.

If you want to see if the county commissioners enacted a burn ban, buy a paper.

Interested in a sporting event score or see what’s happening at a school near you, buy a paper.

Need to see what energy companies are leasing land and where...you guessed it.

If you want to know the facts behind the social media gossip, buy a paper.

So far I’ve never seen a Facebook official at a council meeting, school board meeting or sporting event.

Newspapers have been and will always be the official records source for a community.

Fifty years from now, whether social media still exists or not, you can bet you’ll always be able to look back on past copies of the paper for family history or other research projects.

At the end of the day no newspaper is perfect.

It’s an imperfect process run by imperfect people.

Mistakes are regrettable yet simply unavoidable. 

Whether it’s a spelling error or improperly identifying someone there will always be mistakes.

The best we can do is admit the mistake, correct it and move on.

However, everything in the paper is not just what’s visible to the reader. What often goes unseen by those outside the business is the hours of tireless work that go into the production of a newspaper every week.

It’s not uncommon for all the employees at The Purcell Register to put in over 300 hours a week to produce your newspaper.

We don’t do it because it’s our job. We do it because we care about our communities.

There’s a certain amount of pride knowing we are the history book for the communities we serve.

On behalf of the Montgomerys, Vickie Foraker, David Stull, Jeanne Grimes, Cathy Hanselman, Diane Hall, Doris Caldwell, Janie Allen and Wyatt Steiner we appreciate your patronage and keeping abreast of the news in your area.