Newspapers As Community Boosters p. 15

By: Tony Case

Newspapers As Community Boosters p. 15

A few small-newspaper publishers say it's important
to join in promoting local economic development
"IT'S DAMNED IMPORTANT" for newspapers to join other institutions in promoting community economic development, Jack Fishman, publisher of the Citizen Tribune, Morristown, Tenn., told attendees of the National Newspaper Association convention in Cincinnati last month.
"If you've ever tried to publish a newspaper where there's no economic activity, it's pretty difficult," he said.
Editors and publishers of community newspapers usually are well-connected and "can make a lot of things happen," Fishman observed.
Diane Everson, publisher of the Edgerton (Wis.) Reporter, told how her paper became the town's biggest booster.
When Edgerton's largest employer closed several years ago, 2,000 people lost their jobs. Then, ancillary businesses began to close and the local economy nearly collapsed.
The Reporter began running stories about the town's empty buildings and skilled but unemployed work force in an effort to attract new business.
Soon, a manufacturer expressed interest in opening a plant in Edgerton, and the newspaper actively worked to persuade the company to move there.
Everson and her colleagues published a tabloid dated 10 years in the future, containing fictitious stories that told how Edgerton had been saved when the manufacturer opened its plant. Streets and municipal build-
ings were named after the company's founder, according to the phony paper, which carried a photo of a theater marquis bearing his name.
More importantly, the paper included legitimate stories about Edgerton's workers, its educational system and programs that the town would establish if the plant were opened.
Even though the founder was impressed and Edgerton was strongly considered, the company opened its plant elsewhere. However, the campaign succeeded in putting the community on the map. The Reporter was able to help attract other businesses, and today, Edgerton has only one empty storefront, Everson told NNA members.
While critics say newspaper people don't know anything about economic development and community progress is hampered whenever newspapers are involved, Everson said, "The newspaper, we learned, has really got to dig in . . . and now we are more sensitive to what we need to do to be pro-active in our community."