The importance of legitimate and reliable local journalism cannot be overstated. But there is not a single one of us that is not facing extinction. Facing this reality, the News-Press is launching this week an urgent call for financial support from its readers and everyone who benefits from us being here. We are, and always have been for 33 years and counting, operating on a shoestring. You will find that we do not occupy any mansions, luxury sports cars, yachts or other amenities that accompany the kind of wealth that, we are told, is shared by many in this community that ranks at the top in the U.S. for average household incomes.

But we have played an amazing role for over three decades of binding this community together in its pursuit of the most important things in life. That is, in particular, the improvement of our society and quality of life centered on, more than anything else, the education of our young. If leaving this mortal coil better than one finds it a true measure, as we believe it is, then this little newspaper has done very well. We started out in 1991 with the conviction that communities need to generate wealth to pay for the best schools and opportunities for their young. This has informed our editorials constantly, but also the general ambiance of the paper and its discourse with its readers. Over 33 years, we’ve seen this translate into huge changes that began with tearing down the walls that had separated advocates of good government and the schools from the business community. Our editor served as president of the Chamber of Commerce here for two critical years in the early 1990s when that change was initiated.

Now, we are seeing the results, still in the making. The Little City has a world class educational system paid for by the benefits of economic development. This includes a brand new state of the art high school, new middle school and thoroughly renovated elementary schools. This includes a community supportive of one of the finest K-12 curricula globally devised by the International Baccalaureate program. This didn’t happen by accident. While due to the dedication of many in this town, its caring citizens, parents and educators, it’s also because of the relentless dedication to what went into the making of all this by your local newspaper, reflected in its editorials and weekly decisions about what to report on.

We want to continue. We see that at the local level, it is not about left-versus-right, but good governance by caring, responsible people versus the tug of self-centeredness and fear of anything new or better. This is why local newspapers are so important to our society. This tension at the local level is what ultimately makes our national politics, and it is grounded in the morality of ordinary people who want to make a better world, not only for their children, but for all those around this globe. www.fcnp.com/support