On Saturday, Nov. 30 -- on Thanksgiving weekend -- it was a rainy day in the Northeast Arkansas town of Corning, where I grew up. It was kind of a dreary day to me, but not just because of the weather.
I was also saddened by thinking of how the availability of newspapers in my hometown has diminished quite considerably.
On that day I came face-to-face with the fact that no longer can a person purchase a daily hard copy of the Arkansas-Democrat Gazette in the place where I grew up.
That means either the town is in decline, or newspapers are in decline, or both. I know the truth. It's both.
I also know that one can get plenty of news on smartphones or computers, and can subscribe to online newspapers, some of which look exactly like the newsstand copy.
But I am one of those old-fashioned individuals who prefer holding a paper edition in his hands.
Those opportunities are fading fast.
Way back in 1970, as a second-grader, I first remember looking at the Arkansas Gazette. It was a statewide publication based in Little Rock that truly was of interest to Arkansans almost everywhere.
The Arkansas Democrat, also in Little Rock, covered most of the state as well, but it was not available in Corning, at least not until I was grown. During the 1980s and up until 1991, folks there were fortunate to have access to two state-wide dailies.
People in Corning could also purchase daily newspapers from Memphis, St. Louis, Poplar Bluff (Mo.) and Paragould.
Those options faded away (in Corning at least) as the years rolled on.
When the Democrat won out in a newspaper war with the Gazette and became the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in 1991, people in all corners of Arkansas still had at least one solid statewide paper each day.
That continued for years, until now.
Publication and delivery costs have had a huge impact on the newspaper industry everywhere. Publications nationwide, even the largest one in Arkansas, are cutting back on expenditures where they can.
You can still get the paper version of the Sunday edition of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette in Corning, and the Jonesboro Sun (50 miles to the south) is still available there each day. One can also read the Democrat-Gazette online with a subscription.
But those facts were of little consolation to me on that Saturday. I simply wanted to peruse a real copy of what is left of the newspaper that I began reading at the age of 7 or 8.
It is understood that we all must adapt to changes; it's just the way life goes. And we all understand that not all changes are bad, even those that pertain to newspaper marketability.
But in a world that is fast becoming one in which there will no longer be newspapers in the traditional sense, we must admit that our culture is losing something significant.
Generations in the future will get tons of information from computers or their smartphones (or from whatever comes along next) and that is fine. But to not know of the value that has been placed upon physical, tangible newspapers, well, that is sad to contemplate.
Newspapers have existed in every community throughout all of America's history and are a crucial component of the country's legacy of freedom. They have also been a daily part of family life, both in large cities and in very small towns.
When printed newspapers are all gone for good, we will most certainly adjust and go on, and some won't even realize what was lost.
On Nov. 30 I bought a hard copy of the Jonesboro paper and read it with great interest. It has always been a quality publication, but it isn't what I grew up with.
Even though it was a consolation prize of sorts, I should be grateful that at least one Saturday newspaper option remains in Corning, for now.
David Wilson is a writer and a former high school principal. He is the communications director for Transit and Parking at the University of Arkansas. More of his articles are at DWilsonNotes.com. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 12/11/2019