Thanksgiving is just a few days away. It’s a time when we sit back, reflect on the blessings we have in life and think of how fortunate we truly are.
Sure, there are the added perks, such as a long weekend and a great meal in the company of loved ones. But the bottom line is Thanksgiving is a time of reflection.
Those of us at the office have been reflecting a lot for another reason this week. It’s National Newspapers Week, a time to celebrate our industry and the important role that newspapers play in keeping the public informed and up-to-date on what is happening in their community.
We’re thankful for the opportunity we have to bring these stories to you twice a week through our papers, and every day through our website.
And we’re thankful for all of you, our readers. After all, you are the ones that keep us going. You’re the ones we’re writing for and taking pictures for. You’re the ones who are seeing the ads that appear in our papers.
We could write beautiful, flowing articles, but if you don’t read them, what does it matter?
And if we don’t have the readers, we won’t be able to sell the ads to the businesses, and we won’t have the advertising revenues to sustain what is Estevan’s longest-serving business.
We appreciate it when people come in to our office to provide us with a story idea, because it shows that they trust us enough to bring that information in the first place. We appreciate when someone comes in with an ad for our classifieds page, because it shows they believe they can sell their item in our paper.
And we appreciate it when a business books an ad in our papers, because it shows they believe our papers draw enough eyeballs to the page.
We like it when you stop us on the street to talk to us about a story that appeared in the paper or an issue in the community. We like it when you offer your feedback. Of course, we want to hear that you liked a story, but we’ll also pay attention if you tell us you didn’t like it.
We have the freedom to disagree. That’s part of being in a democracy.
We understand that people are busy. So many of our readers go to work every day, put in an eight-hour shift, come home and are back out the door a short time later because they have to get their kids to a practice or a lesson, or they have to attend a meeting because they have a commitment to the community to be fulfilled.
If we’re not offering a quality product, you’re not going to read it, regardless of whether this is a subscription paper or a free-distribution publication. So we thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read our products.
There are a lot of things that go into making a newspaper a success: well-written and accurate stories, local content, timely articles, good photos, sharp layout, creative advertisements and healthy advertising revenues. Take one of them away, and the product suffers.
But if you take the readers away, none of the items mentioned above are possible.
This is why we’re thankful for you. And while we don’t always verbally express that thanks, we’re going to show how much we appreciate all of you by continuing to deliver an excellent product on a weekly basis that we can all be proud of.
