A newspaper ends, the public loses; on the closing of a paper for which I have written

Gordon L. Weil

This is the last day of the Journal Tribune and, like its readers, I will miss it. I have had the privilege of having my column published in it every week for several years.

It has been a good, local newspaper. That's what it was intended to be, and it has done its job well. Readers could find York County news here that is unavailable elsewhere.

Beyond coverage of its local area, the Journal Tribune was something more. Like other print newspapers and serious online journalism, it published articles of sufficient length to provide readers with detail, allowing them to more fully understand a story. It could offer context to fit a report in a bigger picture.

The print press, including its digital descendent, provides more complete coverage than the traditional networks and cable news.

It has probably taken longer to read a single article in the Journal Tribune than to watch a complete network evening news report on a couple of the day's major stories. A big story (other than a disaster, weather or otherwise) gets about a minute and a-half on television.

An article in the paper has passed through an editor, a person in a position to ensure responsible journalism, which includes hearing from both sides in a dispute, getting the history right, and just plain accuracy. Chances are the editor got to that position after years of experience, learning the trade.

Contrast that form of journalism with what many people think is news. Cable television commentators make bold statements of what they assert is fact, when it is often unsubstantiated opinion. Much of it is stream-of-consciousness, flowing from half-understood news reports and precooked opinion.

Even worse, cable news people use one another as sources, seeming to take another person's opinion as evidence of the truth.

Beyond cable news, often more opinion than fact, are the blogs. Anybody can write a blog and anybody does. It's healthy if everybody has a chance to express an opinion. But it's unhealthy when people use their ability to reach a wide audience to spread lies. Blogs are not subject to editorial review, but many bloggers consider themselves journalists.

Papers like the Journal Tribune try to survive by providing local coverage readers cannot get elsewhere. They try to emphasize the kind of reporting only they can do, leaving the world and the nation to the large media organizations.

As good as the local papers may be in their markets, the national media generally does not do nearly as well in the broader world. Foreign reporting has almost completely disappeared. For example, what do you know about the upcoming Canadian elections? The results will affect many American interests.

What do you understand about current trade wars? Brexit? Race and religious conflicts in India, Myanmar? U.S. warships in the South China Sea?

The list of foreign events and national developments that matter to us is endless, but our ignorance runs deep. Celebrity divorces are more interesting, but much less important.

Then, there's "fake news." Public officials have never liked to be criticized. Yet the purpose of the press is truth. In a democracy, the media tries to uncover facts that will allow people to make their own judgments about what public figures say and do.

Leaders may object that the media did not get the full story or understand its implications. But, if they seek simply to discredit the news, they are also trying to enhance their own power, unchecked by the media. That may work for the political leaders, but it does not work for democracy and the interests of the people.

Out of all this, it turns out that the major stories about the current administration in Washington mostly come from three print newspapers, all of which have been charged by the president as printing "fake news." The Wall Street Journal, the New York Times and the Washington Post have been the chief defenders of democracy by their reporting.

Why do they succeed? There are enough readers who consider them essential. They have enough backing from wealthy owners and readers to provide comprehensive coverage and enjoy protection from attacks. That's simply not true for all papers. The loss of the Journal Tribune or of any other responsible papers is a loss for its readers, reducing their ability to be informed citizens. This paper will be missed.