When my wife and I bought the Journal-Eureka newspaper in Anamosa, Iowa, I wrote about my philosophy in the first edition we produced. This philosophy still holds true today.

​

​​​

Why would anyone purchase a newspaper these days? Aren’t newspapers dying?
 

Much gloom and doom has been written about the current health and future of newspapers. Yet in small communities, newspapers are a vital source for news and information that affect the lives of its readers.

 

Community newspapers have a bright future, but to succeed, they must cover the news that is relevant to readers, news readers cannot get anywhere else. In an age when sources of information seem infinite, newspapers help readers make sense of the barrage of data they face every day.
 

And when we talk about newspapers, we include all of the ways a news organization can use to tell stories – in print, online and in any medium that may come in the future.
 

Newspapers are history’s first record of events. This applies not only to government actions but also to everyday life – social trends and lifestyles.
 

Newspapers have an obligation to help readers understand events that are occurring – answering questions of not only what happened but why it happened and what it means to readers.
 

Most of all, newspapers have a responsibility to readers:

• To provide the news readers need in an easy-to-understand format.

• To be objective in reporting and fair in editorials.

• To watch out for the public’s good and defend the First Amendment guarantees of a free press.

 

Many people have told us about community newspapers that have not always objectively covered news and issues.
 

We pledge to keep our news pages objective, fair and balanced. We also will not shirk from taking stands on issues on our editorial pages. Readers with dissenting opinions are invited to let their voices be heard through letters to the editor and opinion articles.
 

And we will make mistakes. We hope they will be rare. When we do make a mistake, we will correct it. Readers need to trust what is printed in the newspaper.

 

Historians Will and Ariel Durant espoused a philosophy in “The Story of Civilization,” a philosophy equally applicable to journalism.

Said Will Durant: “Civilization is a stream with banks. The stream is sometimes filled with blood from people killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, raise children, sing songs, write poetry and even whittle statues. The story of civilization is the story of what happened on the banks. Historians are pessimists because they ignore the banks for the rivers.”
 

Our newspapers will not ignore the banks for the rivers.