Welcome in the new year, new decade

A new year is on the horizon and so is a new decade, and we gladly welcome them both!

Cheers to the new year – 2020!

Here at The Holton Recorder, we are very thankful for our talented team that works hard every day to produce a top-notch community newspaper for you.

We are also very thankful for all of our loyal advertisers and subscribers. Other media people from places like radio and TV have been trying to undermine our community newspaper work for as long as I can remember. Thanks to all who see through the rhetoric of our competitors.

The truth is, and always has been, that advertising in your community newspaper is the most effective form of advertising that exists!

When you advertise in The Recorder, for example, readers can trust that you’ll stand behind the sales prices that your businesses promote and that you’ll be ready and open for customers’ calls and visits! 

Readers know that the local businesses that place their advertising messages in the community newspaper are always the most trustworthy and credible around!

Your community newspaper also records and summarizes local history every day as it occurs, in fair and objective language.

Those of us who work in community journalism realize that the ideals of our profession are challenged daily; and that at times we miss the mark that we set so high for ourselves. What sets us apart is that we keep striving to produce outstanding newspaper editions each week.

Good journalism in newspapering, we believe, is providing a true reflection of the community being served. 

It’s a tribute to the local newspaper, for example, when a reader from outside the community can pick up a hometown, family-owned and operated newspaper – such as The Recorder - and within a couple minutes of reading get a pulse of how the community views itself.

The highest praise we receive is when people say they’ve read our newspaper and would like to move to the town because of the good things they’ve read.

Good journalism, we believe, promotes and uplifts community pride. That’s why we are always searching for stories that portray our community’s high quality of life. Good journalism is not an irritation to us; it is a lot of work, but we enjoy it.

Our staff believes in the profession of journalism. We believe that the public’s journal is a public trust; that all connected with it are, to the fullest measure of their responsibility, trustees for the public; that acceptance of a lesser service than the public service is betrayal of this trust. 

Good journalism doesn’t just happen. It is learned. And there is more to it than being a good businessman or a good writer. It’s more than a job. It’s a way of life.

We live in an incredibly changing world that never ceases to amaze us. Our particular business has never been more exciting and our ability to reach a wide general public of readers has never been better. We pledge to continue to work even harder in 2020!

Good luck to everyone on new year’s resolutions and self-improvement pledges. They are all worthwhile and important.

My dear sister, Patty, who died in 2011 at age 59, said something to me during her illness that I’ll always remember. 

Patty said, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.’’ I think that’s great advice for the new year and new decade, too!