THE SEEDY SIDE OF NEWS-MAKING

THE SEEDY SIDE OF NEWS-MAKING

It’s dirty work (starting a miniature newspaper) but someone’s got to do it.

Hi, and welcome to the “seed capital” edition of the Nanton News Experiment.

If you’re reading this I’ll deduce either you (a) care deeply about the existence of a local newspaper (b) care moderately about the existence of a local newspaper and figured: ‘Sure, what the heck. I could use some seeds,’ or (c) wanted me off your property and buying seeds was the fastest way.  Whatever the case may be, thank you. 

Your donation is fully funding the continuation of an experiment concerning the modern-day local newspaper. My hypothesis: The perfect newspaper should and can exist in Nanton, Alberta. 

The local newspaper has made a sorry name for itself recently.

What was once an intelligent and entertaining way to communicate in a small town – the local newspaper – now denotes a drab layout cluttered with advertising and vacuous stories (referred to less and less as ‘articles’ and ‘stories’ and more often simply as ‘content’). There is decreasingly little useful ‘content’ to be read.

The community newspaper has been diminishing for some time now like a garden harvested over and over again without ever adding anything new to the mix. Well, dear reader, the newspaper you are reading and the seeds you plant shortly are all part of an optimistic replenishment process. 

I could (and almost definitely will) go on at length about the importance of the local newspaper. But not right now. Right now I want to iterate what this paper, the Nanton News Experiment, intends to stand for and what you can expect in successive issues.

First, a good newspaper needs a mission statement. So let’s maybe start with that right now:

NANTON NEWS X MISSION STATEMENT:

Always have a clear Mission Statement. (Check.) 

Advertise sparingly and only with businesses/individuals meeting a certain standard of ethics. Never be at the whim of advertising revenue.

Readers should comprise the bulk of the newspaper’s articles, arguments and dialogue. 

Grow creatively. Engage an audience of readers and advertisers with inventiveness, humour, honesty and credibility. 

If we want the world to be transparent to the newspaper, the newspaper must be transparent to the world. Report income and status regularly and share introspective news about the newspaper. 

That’s all for now. I thank you for your donation and would very much like to hear from you so that I might include your comments, positive or otherwise, in the following issue.