Editorial “Newspapers still the cornerstone” opines:
“Newspapers serve as watchdogs, alerting the public to the events and developments in government.
“They also deliver thought-provoking investigative journalism, the kind that simply would go undone if it weren’t for local papers.”
“For years, naysayers have been predicting the demise of newspapers. They’re wrong.”
WATCHDOG: When we have to defend our very existence, it comes across somewhat as ‘whistling past the grave yard.’
Nevertheless, we concur with much of what they say:
Newspapers bind together a community because of the breadth and depth of their reporting.
Local newspapers do alert the public concerning what government is doing. We question how much “investigative journalism” they perform because the publisher does not want to offend advertisers, subscribers, and powerful elements of the local establishment. Nor are they willing to spend the money.
While local newspapers do much good, they also can do much harm when they set aside objectivity to further the special interests of themselves and others. It was the Lancaster Newspapers, Inc.’s distortions and abuses that made possible the Lancaster Convention Center project. They drove honorable county commissioners from office for asking the right questions.
Yes, we tend to be one of those “naysayers” who question whether most local newspapers will survive in their current form for over a decade. We hope we are wrong. And if we are right, we suspect that the Lancaster newspapers will be among the last to go.
Just another example of LNP’s self-serving, “pat ourselves on the back” editorials where they get to listen to themselves speak. IF LNP were to ever listen to its’ readership….they would be a true watchdog of the Lancaster Police Department; and challenging that department to solve some crimes.
If they were truly doing investigative journalism; they would be reporting how the income stream coming into the Convention Center/Hotel was really being allocated by a single booking agent that represents BOTH the taxpayer funded Convention Center and PSP’s hotel.
But alas…..we are stuck with LNP’s ownership and management that only wants to look into and report what is in THEIR best interests.