Reasons to love small-town papers
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CATHY KAFRVE Checklist Charlie

Last week was a big week for me. I spent it in two of my favorite East Texas small towns, Brownsboro and Chandler. I kept checking all my B's to make sure I didn't accidentally type in Bullard.

I also ordered business cards. You have to be a stay-at-home mom for 20 years to appreciate the significance of having your own business card.

I felt like a real grown-up, standing there at the printer's desk.

I gave myself the title, freelance writer, thinking, ironically, that the emphasis was on free, given the budget of small-town papers.

Spending so much time in small-town newspaper offices has allowed me to put words to an idea that has been floating around in my brain for a long time.

The idea is this; as small-town people, we ought to be thankful for and support our small-town papers.

It seems obvious, doesn't it? But with media changing due to the Internet, it is worth revisiting the idea.

So, here are my reasons to love smalltown newspapers.

! Accountability: No one likes to think about bad news, but let's face it; sometimes our elected officials mess up. It is impossible to ignore the fact that occasionally someone we trusted with our children or our tax dollars takes advantage of us and acts utterly irresponsible.

Who notices first? Someone in the neighborhood, of course. Just how big does the story have to be before the state and national media will pick it up?

Is it really necessary to wait until a small problem becomes an international crisis to hear about it?

How do the big guys in the media business get the story in the first place anyway?

! Freedom of Speech: Every discussion of newspapers has to include this fundamental right built into our Constitution's First Amendment.

Significantly, it is one of the rights our forefathers were willing to fight and die for, setting a precedent respected by our soldiers today and establishing a tradition that still sets us apart from many other nations.

When issues come up, like rezoning or flooding or fundraisers for local residents going through a crisis, isn't it great to be able to write a letter to the editor of the local paper?

! Slow News Days: The Big Boys in the media business tend to manufacture crises when it's a slow news day because fear and excitement sell newspapers and make people turn on their televisions.

However, in a small town, slow news days are a good thing because it means there were no car wrecks or grass fires, for example.

Just like volunteer firefighters, small town editors hope they won't be going to the scene of a crisis because they are sure to know and care about the people involved. Small-town folks don't want stories like that, which leads to the next point.

! People Magazine: Hollywood knows that humans are interested in the details of other people's lives and that is why glossy tabloids sell like hotcakes off the grocery store wracks.

Personally, I would rather read articles honoring those in my own neighborhood, than reading about whoever bought the latest pair of fancy and expensive shoes in California.

For me, local newspaper features are like gossip without the guilt, sort of like dessert without the calories.

! The Flavor of the Community: If you live in East Texas long, you know that each little town around here has its own flavor; its own unique culture. In the same way, local papers take on their own flavor.

For example, writers from all over the communities of Chandler and Brownsboro turn in Sunday's sermons and they are printed in the local paper.

Live around here and it is easy to take these things for granted, but each paper has its own unique personality determined by the people it serves.

! Local Sports Coverage: Did you know that when parents from the Metroplex or other big cities bring their children over for tournaments in our area, they look forward to seeing their children's stats in the local newspaper's articles the next week?

They do not get that kind of coverage of sporting events in the big city.

! Local Heroes: Who else, but the local paper, tells the stories of noble acts or service over the course of a lifetime of the people in our neighborhoods?

Some of the most informative coverage about the war in Iraq has come as letters from men stationed there that end up printed in the local papers, for instance.

With all that in mind, is it any wonder that I make my husband stop in every small town along the way to raid the newspaper boxes for each local paper whenever we travel in the car? Bless his heart.

Times they are a-changin' for those of us who live in small towns.

Big city dwellers are rediscovering the rural lifestyle that their grandparents enjoyed and they are moving home to raise their children.

Small-town residents have always known how to be good neighbors, and I guess we'll adjust to the influx of people building homes on what used to be pasture.

But that, my friends, is a whole 'nother article.

In the meantime, when I count my blessings, I'm including the hard-working people at The Chandler-Brownsboro Statesman and The Bullard Banner and all the small town newspapers around East Texas.

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Cathy Primer Krafve, aka Checklist Charlie, is a native of East Texas and starts every morning with a cup of coffee and the newspaper because she believes "you can't get in-depth local coverage without getting a little ink on your fingers."