To the Editor:
This is a letter about print journalism. Editor Olin’s recent editorial about the direction and survival of this medium is properly of great concern. In a time when the free press is being gobbled up by corporate entities only to have its freedom destroyed, its integrity enslaved to the corporate interests and ultimately rot out of existence in lieu of more favored information bearers like the internet and company-controlled television, a newspaper like The Lincoln County News becomes so much more valuable to people’s daily life.
While I acknowledge that the publisher’s personal beliefs do affect the paper’s viewpoint at times, I am so aware of the grace that is extended to allow other opinions and philosophies to be represented as well. I believe that the decency of the family that has owned this paper for 85 plus years is the reason it has flourished in good times and in bad, so that the people truly have a voice on its pages.
Having written for other newspapers over my lifetime in New York and Connecticut, I have a good sense of what a paper should be and LCN is all of that. On its pages is all the news essential to a well-informed public on town and state levels to help make decisions about the operations of the towns that are encompassed by Lincoln County.
At the same time, the activities that affect the quality of our life is found here: whether town news written by a colorful array of writers, pictures of the newborn (I love), club activities, animal care columns, service organization offerings, police reports, school athletics, theatrical and musical events, creative endeavors among the art and craft representatives who live in our midst, impending or fulfilled marriage announcements – even the ending of such liaisons. Perhaps the most telling of the decency of this paper is its obituaries. LCN allows for the full tale of a person’s life – as little or as much as the deceased would want told – and unlike the papers owned by company chains, does not charge a penny for its recitation!
If there ever was a newspaper that has “all the news fit to print”, it is our Lincoln County News. Just reading the reports by the town columnists gives a welcoming sense of community.
When one leaves its pages – like Daisy Radoulovitch – there is a real sense of loss. I have loved Daisy’s articulate and well-written reports – often including historical information of great interest – since I first discovered her on LCN’s pages and will sorely miss her. In her last column she praises Chris and Paula Roberts, whom I have gotten to know through Grange activities. I have gotten to know them better – and concur with Daisy that they are good neighbors.
I can live without The New York Times and the Portland and Bangor papers, but The Lincoln County News is essential to the on-going quality of my life. I share Editor Olin’s concern for the future of print journalism and hope that our LCN is exceptional with a lifetime extending well beyond mine.
Barbara Ann Johnson, Nobleboro
