Exhibit A: Newspapers Readers Are The Greatest

Note: This is the Relevant Point of the Month (November).

Jessica Hoagland of St. Louis, MO, went back home on a visit.

There, she picked up a copy of the local newspaper in Columbus, IN.

It just so happens The Republic was participating in National Newspaper Week during October and was kind enough to publish my related commentary, “Vote For Newspapers.”

Hoagland read it and then shared an idea.

Dear Republic,

I often return home to Columbus to visit my mother and enjoy my hometown, and I never miss a chance to read “The Republic”.

I particularly enjoyed Tom Silvestri’s article on local newspapers and was inspired to story-map it. I have a love and affinity for local newspapers, and these are my study notes as I navigate the new media landscape and simply try to figure out what’s going on.

Most people are visual learners and benefit from hearing a particular message at least twice, so if you enjoy my story-map, and want to reprint it, please let me know so that I can hurry up and finish it off.

Attached is a draft.

Again, thank you to “The Republic” for who you are and what you do!

Best,

Jessica Hoagland

She copied me on the email.

I reviewed the artwork, which diagrammed what a newspaper looks like when it’s the Community Forum.

Stop the presses.

That hit home with The Relevance Project, which is all about telling the true story of the strength, viability and importance of community newspapers.

I responded with thanks and a request to share the story-map with our press associations and their member newspapers.

The answer was yes, and Hoagland then made a few revisions.

“Vote for Newspapers — The Village Square” borrows Relevant Points and forever links local papers with a healthy democracy. Check.

Accurate reporting improves citizens’ knowledge and roots out corruption and malfeasance. Check.

To stay viable, community newspapers need subscriptions, advertisements and engaged readers. Check. (You can add: Now more than ever.)

Hoagland put a star or main character in the middle of The Village Square: “Brave Journo.” Double check.

“I’ve included both a large file and a web-sized file; I find the story-maps need to be at least 5X7″ in order to remain legible in print,” she advised.

Hoagland noted the website http://www.relevanceproject.net and composed “a few words to set up the map for newspapers who might want to re-print it.”

Read on:

To: Editor, Community Newspaper

I often return home to Columbus (Indiana) to see my mother and I never miss a chance to read “The Republic” which rivals my big city newspaper for quality of content.

I was so taken by the article on “The Village Square” by Tom Silvestri that I was inspired to sit right down and create this story-map. These are really my study notes as I struggle to figure out what’s going on while navigating a media landscape that keeps changing under my feet.

Since most people are visual learners and benefit from receiving the same message more than once, I’m sending the map along with my permission for any local community paper to re-print. I’m a big fan of local community newspapers and Tom’s article helped “sharpen the knowledge” of what’s on my mind.

By the way, my mom suggested using a gazebo to represent the Village Square.

Jessica Hoagland
St. Louis, MO

This week, I spoke with a very busy editor of The Republic — but not too busy to answer the phone — who said Hoagland’s story-map is still being consider for publication.

“We just need to get through the post-election,” Julie McClure said. “My phone is constantly ringing. We need to figure out what’s going to happen to Mike Pence,” the vice president and Indiana politician who was born in Columbus on June 7, 1959.

McClure was doing exactly what the Village Square holds true for newspapers like the Republic: “Think Global, Act Local.” In Columbus, Pence is the ultimate local story.
When I wrote the National Newspaper Week column, I was hoping to see a few emails from readers interested in continuing the discussion. I wasn’t expecting The Relevance Project to one day earn its own framable artwork.

It only goes to show that good things can happen when you vote for newspapers and when newspapers, in turn, push forward as THE Community Forum.

Or, The Village Square.

Thank you, Jessica Hoagland. Long live the engaged newspaper reader.

—TAS