In a post entitled Report: Most Counties Have Little or No Local News Sources, Wirecutter admits:
We’ve got the Macon County Chronicle, published on Wednesday or Thursday. I enjoy it, it gives me a chance to catch up on all the local gossip and happenings.
I mean, he’s not doing as much to keep print alive as I am, but it’s something.
The current count of local papers I take from around Missouri is:
- The Greene County Commonwealth
- Mound City News, which is where my “cousin”‘s death notice appeared
- The Licking News
- Houston Herald
- Douglas County Herald
- Wright County Journal
- Branson Tri-Lakes News
- Phelps County Focus
- Marshfield Mail
- Stone County Republican
- Ozark County Times
- Benton County Enterprise
I think that’s it. I’d have to go rifle through the stack again.
Unfortunately, we’re cutting expenses, so I’ve had to let The Current Local lapse for the nonce and have not been able to subscribe to the two weeklies we picked up in northeast Missouri on our trip to Iowa. Also, it’s fortunate that the subscription bills have not come due at the same time or I’d realize how much I’d been spending on newspapers I only page through, read a column by a local person, and use to light fires.
One thing about the local papers, though, is non-local newspaper conglomerates are starting to buy them up. The Branson Tri-Lakes News bought the Stone County Republican, and the papers share a lot of content, so it might not be worthwhile to keep them both. The Douglas County Herald got bought by a network in Illannoy, and its letters to the editor tend to be a little more media-traditional, if you know what I mean. A nationwide concern just bought the Phelps County Focus, so we’ll see if that thins it out some–given that the Focus is published in a college town, it already had views out of step with its readers. I guess the Greene County Commonwealth long ago joined a group owned by a publisher whose columns have also been out-of-step with his readers. As the new owners “trim” their budgets, they might be tempted to trim the local columnists which make the papers interesting. Or, heaven forfend, they’ll all pick up Jim Hamilton whom I already see in several papers and Ozarks Farm & Neighbor (where he replaced Jerry Crownover, who unfortunately retired).
So in addition to the belt-tightening, we might have otherwise pruned the list.
Which is unfortunate, because I do really like reading about my adopted hometowns across the state.
