OLD NEWSPAPERS We seldom think of our local newspapers as being old. After all, many of them are set in our minds as symbols of modernity. They supply us with the latest happenings in our community and others nearby; they keep us up on the latest clothing styles, household decor, cars and entertainment - show us the pathways to better living. As with other business firms, newspapers come and go.
Quite often they have been "family owned and operated "family businesses. Some. Some died out with the founding families, or the name was sold to a new owner and changes were made in what it tried to do. Today's paper may resemble the original publication only in a vague and general sense. The news content was meager and consisted almost entirely of quotes from foreign papers which made it a common thing that events described had, possibly, happened weeks and even months before. The news could not be current and I think it must have been a terrible task for people concerned about their relatives in Europe and elsewhere. Crew members of the visiting ships may well have been sources of the very latest news, hear-say, rumor and sadly enough, much mis-information. Occasionally. the printers who "edited" such papers - those who retained a sense of humor in such times - included a witticism, a poem, puzzle even a story now and then from one of the seafaring persons. Gradually, many papers came
take on a certain verve which fitted them to the occupational emphasis of their area.
We sometimes overlook, or delay admitting that there were relatively few people in the early days who could read or write. The newspapers were read aloud in public places and copies posted at much-attended sites for "slow readers." We can, today, trace the growth of the American newspaper following the path of educational improvements. The newspaper often spearheaded advanced of the nation into new areas of both thought and action.
I have written material used in older papers; I have written for papers newly born and there are, indeed, subtle differences. In writing editorial opinion for an older paper one reflect upon what has been said before and why. In writing of the new sheet I have more freedom, but, oddly enough, a heavier weight of responsibility.
It is disquieting to witness the gradual demise of many newspapers in recent years. Many are showing great promise in their electronic affiliations. The editor of Australia's oldest newspaper - The Sydney "Morning Herald", April 1831, wrote in the paper's 50,000th edition: "The newspaper is the first draft of history and the last word on current affairs."
A.L.M. March 12, 2006 [c454wds]
