4A | WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2019 | COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL
Cottage Grove Sentinel
116 N. Sixth St.
Cottage Grove, Ore. 97424
NED HICKSON , MANAGING EDITOR |
Opinion
541-902-3520 | NHICKSON @ CGSENTINEL . COM
The First Amendment
C
ongress shall make no law respect-
ing an establishment of religion or
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or
abridging the freedom of speech, or of the
press, or the right of the people peaceably
to assemble, and to petition the Govern-
ment for a redress of grievances.
“I never considered a difference of opinion in politics, in religion, in philosophy, as cause for withdrawing from a friend.” —Thomas Jefferson (1800)
Celebrating National Newspaper Week
At least once a week,
some 7,500 community
newspapers — those with
a circulation of less than
30,000 — land on porch-
es, inside mailboxes or at
local supermarkets and
coffee counters across the
United States.
According to a sur-
vey conducted by the
University of Missou-
ri-Columbia, more than
three-quarters of respon-
dents said they read most
or all of each edition of
their local newspaper —
with 94 percent of those
people holding subscrip-
tions.
Locally, on Wednes-
day mornings, you can
see the front page of the
Cottage Grove Sentinel
suspended in front of
faces in coffee shops,
restaurants and markets
around The Grove, as in
Yoncalla, Elkton, Drain,
Creswell and Lorane as
people inform them-
selves about what’s hap-
pening in our commu-
nities — from upcoming
festivals and events, to
recaps of the latest board
meetings and features on
local issues and residents.
While there is a notion
that print journalism
is dying, the truth is
that many community
newspapers are actu-
ally thriving compared
to many of their large
metro-area and national
counterparts.
“Community papers
are doing better than
many large, daily papers
because they provide
news coverage about
things that matter to
their local community
that would otherwise
style and focus, there
has been one important
understanding that con-
tinues to define us as a
community newspaper:
To our readers, we are
not just the newspaper;
we are their newspaper.
USC professor Judy
Muller told the Stanford
From the Managing Editor’s Desk
Ned Hickson
be overlooked without
them,” said Al Cross,
director of the Insti-
tute for Rural Journal-
ism at the University of
Kentucky.
In fact, in 2018, the
combined readership of
those 7,500 non-daily
newspapers was almost
20 million more than
that of daily newspapers,
with non-dailies tallying
65.5 million subscrib-
ers — compared to 45.5
million daily-paper
subscribers.
This is according to
the National Newspa-
per Association (NNA),
which also noted that 70
percent of those small
non-dailies have a circu-
lation of less than 15,000;
The Sentinel is among
that smaller group, with
a circulation of just over
7,000.
When I became man-
aging editor here in mid-
2018, I’d had the good
fortune of working with
three terrific editors over
my previous 18 years as
a journalist. And while
each brought their own
University Press that,
while local journalism
is certainly about police
blotters, obituaries, bake
sales and club meetings,
“The best community
newspapers also hold
local governments and
institutions accountable
by covering meetings,
asking questions and
recognizing the good as
well as the not-so-good
because ... if not them,
then who?”
While we’ve received
equal amounts of ac-
colades and criticism
regarding our coverage
of controversial issues
ranging from housing,
education and the home-
less, to gun law, suicide
rates and hate crime over
the last two years, our
story meetings are un-
derscored by the notion
of: “If not us, then who?”
I am reminded of my
first day as a journalist
covering sports at the
Siuslaw News in Novem-
ber 1998 — and how
intimidated I felt sitting
at my desk listening to
the constant sound of
keyboard hammering
emanating from behind
partitions on either side
of me.
Twenty-one years
later, it’s a sound that I
have come to love in the
same way a mechanic
appreciates the sound of
an engine hitting on all
cylinders, or the way a
music conductor savors
the convergence of musi-
cal notes into a singular
harmony.
(Keep in mind I still
type with two fingers, so
my contribution to that
harmony is more like the
cow bell, but still...)
As we head into Na-
tional Newspaper Week
(Oct. 6-12), I’d like to
thank you, our readers,
for supporting your local
newspaper. Not only
with your subscription
or weekly trip to the
office to buy your copy,
but also for your partic-
ipation and contribu-
tions — through letters,
emails, phone calls and
conversations in my
office — that help make
The Sentinel one of those
7,500 non-daily commu-
nity newspapers that is
continuing to grow.
In the words of Thom-
as Jefferson in a letter to
Col. Edward Carrington
on Jan. 16, 1787:
“Were it left to me
to decide whether we
should have a govern-
ment without news-
papers, or newspapers
without a government,
I should not hesitate a
moment to prefer the
latter.”
LETTERS
A Day For The Earth
The Global Climate Strike on
Sept. 20 began at 10 a.m. with a
rally at Opal Park. Those attending
walked together to Bohemia Park.
The event was a mellow gathering
with a mixture of adults, as well as
young people. I heard that the es-
timated number of attendees was
from 250-300.
The weather was perfect for the
gathering, set up next to the stage
and the nearby children’s play-
ground. Speeches and music on
stage went on until 3 p.m., while
tables manned by various local
groups offered information and
conversation.
A beautiful circle of flowers and
leaves were placed on the lawn,
next to a globe of the Earth, to hon-
or the sacredness of our planet.
Free food for all to snack on was
provided.
I set up a small table, on which
I had the sign, “A Penny for Your
Thoughts About Climate Change.”
With the help of my
monkey puppet Ros-
co, I invited people to
write down, in a binder,
their comments about
climate change — and
then “Rosco” would pay
them a penny. I told
them it was a “lucky”
penny and advised them
not to spend it all in one
place!
In addition to the
comments people wrote
down, a clever six-year
old boy came by sever-
al times to dictate his
comments to me; he
earned four pennies.
It was an event where
people networked and
met one another, and
everyone there (wheth-
er wearing a costume of a leopard
or a wolf, or wearing a vast array of
contemporary street attire) played
a part in a congenial collection of
humanity — with the same serious
climate crisis message being re-
peated many places in the world on
the same day.
—Gayle Kahane
Cottage Grove
For the future
Margaret Mead said, “Nev-
er doubt that a small group of
thoughtful, committed citizens can
change the world: indeed, it is the
only thing that can.”
We have seen that in practice…
when a young girl took a simple
act, holding a school strike in front
of the Swedish Parliament every
Friday to protest the climate cri-
ses facing our planet, and turned
it into an international movement.
Last Friday, over 250 students
and community members in Cot-
tage Grove joined over 4 million
people who participated in up to
4,900 climate action events in over
150 countries.
Th ey marched down Main Street
and held a rally in Bohemia Park
with speakers and information ta-
bles to discuss ways we can all be
a part of the solution to save the
world for our grandchildren’s chil-
dren.
Many of those present signed a
petition urging the Cottage Grove
City Council to declare a climate
emergency and host a town hall
meeting to work on solutions to
make Cottage Grove carbon neu-
tral by 2030.
Th ose who participated in last
Friday’s event believe even a small
community such as ours can set an
example for the world, and we are
asking our elected offi cials to step
forward and lead other Oregon
communities by acting on this crit-
ical issue now — for the future,
—Cristina Hubbard,
Executive Director Forest Web
Cottage Grove
USPS#133880
Copyright 2019 © COTTAGE GROVE SENTINAL
Letters to the Editor Policy
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the above criteria.
Send letters to:
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HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REPS
Oregon state
representatives
Oregon federal
representatives
• Sen. Floyd Prozanski
• Rep. Peter DeFazio
District 4 State Senator
PO Box 11511
Eugene, Ore. 97440
Phone: 541-342-2447
Email : sen.fl oydprozanski@
state.or.us
(House of Representatives)
405 East 8th Ave.
#2030
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: defazio.house.gov/
contact/email-peter
Phone: 541-465-6732
• Rep. Cedric Hayden
Republican District 7 State
Representative
900 Court St. NE
Salem, Ore. 97301
Phone: 503-986-1407
Website: www.leg.state.or.
us/hayden
Email: rep.cedrichayden@
state.or.us
• Sen. Ron Wyden
405 East 8th Ave., Suite
2020
Eugene, Ore. 97401
Email: wyden.senate.gov
Phone: (541) 431-0229
• Sen. Jeff Merkley
Email: merkley.senate.gov
Phone: 541-465-6750
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