Everyone has heard about the death sentence for newspapers.
With hedge funds taking over and local journalists seeing major layoffs, it’s often thought that newspapers are dying.
However, I am here to proudly say it’s exactly the opposite. Local newspapers, especially, are thriving, and I was reminded of that at the recent Alabama Press Association annual meeting and awards banquet.
I am proud to be part of the Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. team that placed three newspapers in the top three of their respective General Excellence categories. I am proud to have won Best Local News Coverage for The Outlook and Best Local Sports Coverage for The Wetumpka Herald. These are our bread and butter and to be amongst the best in state is truly an accomplishment.
But the APA awards banquet wasn’t just about our own accomplishments; it was about celebrating local journalism as a whole.
Sure, there are many places where you can eat up national news. You can read about Trump and Biden and the presidential election in countless places, and you can learn all about national trends and celebrities in the tabloids.
However, there are still people who are doing local news and doing it the right way.
One thing I love about working at TPI is our commitment to hyper-local news. If you want to learn about what’s happening in your local government, you’ve come to the right place. If you want to know about the most recent high school game or even who’s up and coming on the youth fields, look no further than our sports pages.
See when you pick up a TPI publication — or many of the other local publications that were on display at the recent conference — you are connecting with people who truly care about your community. We are players in our town, living, eating and working just like the readers. And we really care about our readers and what makes them tick.
We want to tell stories that are important, like what decision the city council made at its recent meeting or what new development is coming to town, but we also want to tell stories that inspire people. We want to tell the stories of the people who are giving back, who are fighting the odds and who are overcoming obstacles.
Local news should be celebrated, and without the support of our readers, we would be just another statistic in the death of newspapers. Thank you for being loyal to TPI, as we try to be loyal to you every day.
Lizi Arbogast Gwin is the managing editor of Tallapoosa Publishers Inc. She can be reached at 434-962-9420 or via email at lizi.gwin@alexcityoutlook.com.
