The old expression, ‘Having your cake and eating it too’ can apply to a lot of things and one of them is attitudes toward your community newspaper. This one, in other words. A lot of people like having it. They probably would not like it to disappear. Social media is great, etc., quick, fun, useful in many ways, but not any kind of substitute for the local paper and the role it plays.

So there’s lots of sentimental attachment to a community paper. This was well illustrated a few years ago in Swan Hills, when the owner of the Grizzly Gazette announced it was closing, due to shortage of revenue. The outcry was swift and loud. ‘No, no, no! Don’t take our paper away!’

Okay, said the owner. But without sufficient revenue, it’s dead. In other words, you can’t have a newspaper and get away with not advertising in it.

Every newspaper faces the same grim calculation. And you can’t really hold it against advertisers. If they can get decent results without spending the money, why wouldn’t they? Times are tight, etc.

The newspaper should not become a charity case. It’s a business and must survive based on the value it represents to advertisers. Something to consider is how that value can’t entirely be measured in dollars and cents.