I enjoy history, especially history concerning people and places that are important to me, so when I was invited to come and listen to a group of local residents talk about the history of newspapers in Clearwater, I was excited.
Sharing what I learned that day in one of my features last week, I wrote, “The history of a community can be found in the pages of its newspapers.”
I believe that 100%.
Where else can you learn about things like what the city council decided at their last meeting, how the local sports teams did and what’s happening in your neighborhood?
Reading the advertisements, you can learn what the local businesses have to offer, what time church services are held in the summer and when the community picnic is happening this year. The classifieds will help you find a new job, give you the address of the garage sale across town or help find your lost dog.
I know people on both sides of the Mississippi were disappointed when the Sherburne County Citizen and the Clearwater Tribune were combined into one newspaper in 2016, but what most didn’t realize is that if it hadn’t happened, Clearwater wouldn’t have a newspaper at all, and Becker’s paper would be much less substantial. Our sense of community would have been diminished.
I started working for the Citizen-Tribune during the change, and I constantly heard residents complaining about it. People in Becker complained the paper had mostly Clearwater news in it, and people in Clearwater said it was mostly full of Becker news.
The only people I didn’t hear complaining were the ones from Clear Lake.
Although I understood their concerns, I didn’t understand why people were so upset. Why wouldn’t you want to learn not only about what’s happening in your own community, but the communities around you? We’re all just down the road from one another and part of the larger Central Minnesota community. We’re neighbors.
Does any newspaper contain only features that everyone who reads them is interested in? Of course not. Even as an employee of the Citizen-Tribune I don’t always read the entire paper.
Even if you don’t find a particular feature interesting, remember that every single thing we print in the paper is important to someone in our communities. A parent cuts out the photo of their child playing in the band concert, a grandparent shows off their grandchild in the sports section. Sherburne Co. residents may want to be updated on the government center, while Wright Co. residents may want to hear why their taxes are going up.
Amongst the complaining I did hear from people who were happy with the newspapers merging. In fact, many of them said they felt the paper was now a higher quality publication than it had been in the past.
Things seemed to have calmed down now that people are used to the change. Although there’s grumbling every once and a while, for the most part I hear appreciation and thanks from residents.
The editor, Gary Meyer, works hard to ensure all our communities are represented each week, including what’s featured on the front page.
The people in our communities have interesting and often amazing stories to tell if you give them a chance. I ask each of you to take the time to read one feature from this edition of the newspaper that you normally wouldn’t. You might be surprised at what you learn.
Remember, the Citizen-Tribune is your newspaper. Each week it’s written and published with our local residents in mind. Without you there would be no reason for it to exist.
Also remember the Citizen-Tribune is a free publication, advertising is what pays for it to be delivered to your home each week. Without our advertisers there would be no newspaper, so show them your appreciation by shopping local. You might be surprised at what you find.
And don’t forget to let us know what’s going on in your community. We can’t write about it if we don’t know about it.
Newspapers matter because community matters. Thank you to all of our readers in all of our communities for your continued support.
