Jeb Bladine: Quiet 2020 launch of ‘Partners’ project
This month’s quiet launch of the News-Register’s “Community Partners” program is going to evolve and expand over months and, hopefully, years to come.
Readers can flip to Page 4 of this Viewpoints section to see the second Partners page – a new weekly feature with changing content. What may look like a simple business directory is the start of a new conversation with the community.
This is a multi-layered commercial venture admittedly seeking to strengthen the newspaper, but it’s not a one-way street. Far from it.
Today, almost all newspapers have financial challenges. But so do many retail and service providers … so do many private and public institutions … so do many citizens facing high costs of living on limited incomes.
In this digital-gone-wild world, we believe the survival of local print media requires partners, not just readers and clients. The same applies to many local business enterprises competing in a marketplace increasingly dominated by online sales giants.
Community Partners is a rebranding and expansion of our 30-year Shop Local campaign, as first described here in November: “This holiday season and beyond, by all means remember to support local businesses. They are year-round contributors to your community in so many ways … As 2020 draws near, we find ourselves thinking about ways to help strengthen all kinds of community partnerships — especially those involving local businesses and readers who make it possible to continue a community newspaper.”
With those thoughts in mind, we developed and launched the opening acts of “Community Partners.” We started with a base of local businesses, but soon we will be reaching out to engage our newspaper readers in the project.
“Shop Local” remains a bedrock idea of Community Partners, and we urge readers to give extra consideration to the Partner participants. We will also look for ways those businesses can make special offers to our News-Register subscribers.
Along the way, we will be asking readers through a series of surveys for ideas and recommendations about how we can strengthen these community partnerships.
For our part, we hope to build on thoughts expressed here previously:
A good newspaper works to sustain positive ties between citizens and units of government, even when acting as a critic. A good newspaper seeks to connect local people with important organizations and consumers with local businesses. A good newspaper seeks out shared efforts that help define and shape the best parts of its local community.
Jeb Bladine can be reached at jbladine@newsregister.com or 503-687-1223.
Comments
Jim
Jeb you personally and the Newsregister have done a hell of a job helping keep this community together and on track. We used your paper to advertise when we were in business and it was a huge asset to us to have a local partner to advertise our business. I hate this electronic age and what it has done to our one on one communication skills. I shop locally every chance I get. I just hope this little town doesn’t blow itself up and become another Beaverton or Hillsboro. Thank you for what you and your newspaper have done for Mcminnville.