The Redwood gazette., 1920-05-12
THE HOME PA
PER BLESS IT
By Tom A. McNeal.
(From Capper's Farmer, April Issue.)

If you have gathered the impression
that the country weekly is going out
of business, get the notion out of your
! head. It is true that within the last
year there have been a good many
consultations of small town papers.
Some papers have suspended, be-
cause of the extraordinary increase
| in cost of paper and other materials,
but the small town or country weekly
as it is commonly called, never will go
out of business. 1t occupies a field
J that cannot be filled by any other pub
lication.
The Ideal Country Paper.
The ideal country or small town
| weekly is printed picture from week
to week of the social, business, politi-
cal, and religious life of the town and
community in which it is published.
It tells the continued story of the
comings and goings of the inhabitants
of all conditions and classes found in
| that community.
The editor of country weekly needs
, to be most versatile as well as a
most industrious man. He should be a
careful business man with talent for
| details, for the business of country
weekly is made up of multitude of
small transactions. He should be an
| Industrious man because the getting
! out of paper in small town in
wolves a great deal of labor and COM
petent help is not always easy to OBJ
tain. He should be possessed OF large
patience, honesty, hard sense, courage
and tact.
| A Foe to Gossip.
| On the country weekly the need of
tact and great good sense is readily
apparent. There is always in every
community, and especially in a small
town. a certain amount of gossip that
! is calculated to stir up strife and
which the wise editor will not publish.
! He must, however, deal with the peo-
pie of the community justly and i'm
partially, for nowhere are people more
sensitive or more ready to notice fav-
oritism than in small town.
IF the editor should, for example,
publish an item reflecting on the con-
duct of Il poor man or woman but
pass over without comment the equally
reprehensible conduct, let us say, of
the banker or leading business man of
the town. especially if the offender is
a heavy advertiser, he would lose pop
ularity and influence.
A Leader but Not Boss.
The successful small town editor
must know the peculiarities of every
i body He must be courageous, but
discreet. He must have the discern
ment to know when it is safe to inter-
fere in neighborhood row and when
it is wise and best to let it alone for
fear of making the situation worse.
He ought to be leader without be-
ing a boss. He must be constructive
not destructive. The wrong kind OF
a small town editor, the man who
lacks sense and tact, can start in a sim
/ gle issue a neighborhood row that
4 will last a generation On the other
hand, the wise editor who establishes
a reputation for honesty and fairness
can stop many rows that are threaten
ing.
A Big Small Town Fault.
4 A fault of the average small towr
and the farming community by which
it is surrounded is lack of effective
intelligent cooperation and commu
nifty spirit. The business of the loca
paper is to promote this spirit of CO.
operation, to get the town and coun
try to pull together for the advantage
of both. 1t is possible, for example
for the small town in cooperation
with the country people to organize /
, local fair that will be inexpensive ane
! at the same time tremendously help
!, full. No great premiums can be ex
J pected but friendly rivalry can b,
; built up that will mean better horses
s better cattle, better hogs, better meth
: reds of farming, bigger crops, mor'
: comfort in the homes both in the town
: and country.
; The wise country editor will no
: miss an opportunity to advertise what
7 ever is worth advertising and calculat
: ed to increase the wealth and bette
: the social condition of the community
: If Farmer Smith is raising extra fin,
.