Busy times highlight the need for community newspapers

By Chuck Kajer, Managing Editor

It's been a whirlwind week at The New Prague Times office, one of those weeks when there is no shortage of news.

Starting with last week's CapX 2020 meeting in New Prague, continuing with the Elko New Market City Council's decision to dissolve its police department and the opening of the New Prague Emergency Services Center, Patrick Fisher and I have been kept busy keeping on top of things.

We are also busy with other projects as well. Together with our sister publications in Montgomery, Waterville and Elysian, we are preparing our annual Spring Home section. The section will have a number of stories on home improvement and yard maintenance and more. Look for it in next week's edition of The Times.

One thing that has been in a bit of a lull is high school sports, but now that school is back in session and the weather has warmed up, that is about to change.

And the spring months are full of other activities as well. Over the next two months, we'll be covering the city-wide cleanup, the New Prague Antique show, Prom, the New Prague Half-Marathon, the city-wide Garage Sale, Memorial Day festivities, high school graduation and more. We'll also be publishing our annual New Prague High School Arts and Activities section in May.

Why do I mention all this?

Well, you may have heard that newspapers are in trouble. People say our industry is doomed to failure because we are obsolete. They point to the troubles that daily newspapers are having. The Star Tribune, for instance, filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

So are we in trouble? The answer is a resounding no. There is a big difference between community newspapers like The Times and daily newspapers. Community newspapers are more of a niche publication. our niche happens to be the people and events going on in the New Prague area. While people can find their national and even state news on countless websites or on the TV news, most of the information I mentioned earlier in this column are pretty much going to be found in once place - the pages of The New Prague Times.

People who hear about how newspapers are in trouble have asked me how this newspaper is doing, Well, we're like any other business. The economic conditions that affect hardware stores, insurance agents, home builders and other local businesses also affect us. But despite that, we're doing just fine, and we're going to continue to serve our niche