“Every time a newspaper dies, even a bad one, the country moves a little closer to authoritarianism…” – Richard Kluger, Pulitzer Prize winning author

 There’s no secret in the fact that I love my work – I view it the way a romantic would look upon a pink sunset over Paris, the way an idealist would look upon the minute acts of kindness that randomly spring up from day to day, the way a dreamer would look upon a thousand tiny flecks of light in the darkened night sky – but I also know that this craft to which I’ve dedicated so much of my life is facing unprecedented tumult and is simultaneously more necessary than ever before.

As far as the decline of American newspapers is concerned, the signals couldn’t be much worse – a 2019 Pew Research Center report found that daily newspaper circulation, print and digital combined, was 28.6 million for weekdays and 30.8 million for the weekend, down 8 and 9 percent respectively from the previous year.

The report also states that, over the same period, weekday print circulation decreased by 12 percent and weekend circulation decreased by 13 percent – placed atop the fact that advertising revenues continue to decline, down by nearly $2 million between 2017 and 2018, and the fact that newsrooms are employing a quarter as many reporters since 2008, most of which were pulled from newspaper rosters, the picture isn’t pretty.

And while all of this is taking place, we are faced with the vitriol of American political leaders at all levels undermining the work of the press with their shouts of “fake news” and “alternative facts;” we are plagued with more roadblocks and barriers in our pursuit for information; we are overworked and underpaid, despite now being required to carry a college degree into our respective newsrooms – in short, the stakes have never been higher for American news consumers and the playing field has never been more rocky for American news writers.

In recognizing National Newspaper Week, journalists are not simply marketing a fundraising campaign designed to funnel much-needed money into newspaper coffers, we are attempting to remind the public that there is still value in news collected and distributed by a reputable source and knowledgeable correspondents; we are striving to remind the public that a free press is one of the building blocks of a thriving democracy and, in its absence, corruption is allowed to grow and spread.

My mother, who has read all of the news articles I’ve written since I first penned a story for The Millbrook Independent nearly 15 years ago, contends that the work I’ve done for this newspaper is the best of my career and I would have to agree.

The stories I’ve had the opportunity to write as a reporter for The Selma Times-Journal span an immense swath of information – from the court battles related to the city treasurer and three local police officers to the multi-part series on the city’s budget; from the flight lines at Craig Field to the sidelines at Southside High School; from the annual Bridge Crossing Jubilee to former Vice President Al Gore’s visit to Lowndes County – I have seen more, learned more and done more here than ever before.

All of those words, as well as those written by my colleagues, tell the story of this city in good times and bad – where else can one turn for those stories, the stories that define our times in this city?

Nowhere, is the answer, because for nearly 200 years this newspaper has been on the ground in this city, striving daily to provide citizens with the information they need and the stories they want.

This newspaper, though not without flaws, is a benefit to this city – it is the eyes of those who are not there to see, it is the ears of those who are not there to hear, it is the voice of those who are not there to speak – and it is my hope that this community will continue to support it no matter what the future might hold.