Why Newspapers Matter, Part 4

Newspaper people are a rare breed.

The demise of the Rocky Mountain News thousands of miles away brought tears to editor Nancy March, sitting at her desk in Pottstown.

One of the best explanations of what drives newspaper people can be found in a recent column by March, "Telling your stories is our privilege."

The editor of The Pottstown Mercury writes:

This honor, this opportunity to tell the stories of our communities, to be the watchdog of wrong and sneaky actions, the chronicler of children's achievements and adults' tribulations is what drives us.

This privilege is a theme that echoes through The Rocky's last 120 pages. The paper's storied history offers tributes to journalists whose names are no longer on the roll call of final employees — the photographer who died in a plane crash while capturing the gold of aspens on film, the young reporting talent killed by a hit-and-run drunk driver, the sports columnist who wrote volumes during a long career.

The edition highlights the photos and words that brought the paper four Pulitzers in this decade and ends with the musings of an editor whose only regret is that he will have no successor.

A full page advertisement from competitor The Denver Post is blank except for the words "Today Denver is at a loss for words" and "— 30 —" the symbol known to old-school newspapermen as signifying the end.

Read the full column, "Telling your stories is our privilege," at The Mercury's Web site.

See related posts at the links below:

Why Newspapers Matter, Part 3

Why Newspapers Matter, Part 2

Why Newspapers Matter, Part 1