Guest Column: The Lowe Down

By Pam Lowe

I was reminded early Tuesday morning how fragile and important human connection is to all of us. I had just fallen asleep around 4 a.m. I had been up all night and had laid down when my phone rang at 5:14 a.m. I thought it must be a misdial because it was so early and it wasn’t a family member calling. I tried to return to sleep but could not. About an hour later at 6:30 am the same number called again and my heart sank as it occurred to me that someone must be wanting to urgently reach me to call so early in the morning. I answered the call. A reader that I came to know through the Courier and now consider a friend called to let me know his mother had just passed. I recognized the pain of choking out the words that your parent has passed away the very first time. The words stick in your throat as your heart and mind object to their utterance. It’s as if your brain is saying to you that if you don’t say the words out loud then it can’t be true. I understand the first few hours of numbness and of wondering what to do next. I cherish the fact that this person trusted me with this most precious news. It is a fine and precious thread that binds us all. It’s all the more reason to be kind to one another. It wasn’t the first time I’ve received a phone call from someone who had just lost a family member and felt they needed to reach out to me. I’ve written before about a woman, a stranger to me, who called me from the hospital immediately after her brother died unexpectedly and said that all she could think was she needed to call the newspaper and talk to me. I comforted her the best I could. Editors and the public should never forget the importance of the local newspaper to its readers. Over the past few years, I have sat and listened to many as they shed tears and told their stories of grief, illness and hardships. It is the utmost privilege to be present during the most vulnerable moments of people’s lives to listen, console, to be there. When it comes down to it, we all want someone to see us and to be heard. People often feel they know or feel close to people who work at their newspaper regardless of whether they know them face-to-face. They read articles or columns and form an attachment. There’s a line in the movie, “Where the Crawdads Sing” that expresses the sheer power of words, “I didn’t know words could hold so much.” The power of the relationship between a paper and its readers is a testament to the influence of the written word.

I believe this relationship happens naturally. The newspaper reports on the successes and unfortunately the negative aspects within its community. Being an editor of a small town newspaper isn’t for sissies or the weak in character. An objective fairness in reporting of local news must be maintained while steering the paper with a steady compass of integrity to report the news. That can be difficult in a small community when news isn’t favorable but must be reported regardless. A community’s newspaper has the best seat and a unique view of a community. Your newspaper knows you and you know your newspaper. It knows the strengths in its leadership and organizations and it realizes its weaknesses. Above all, it values the people, friends and neighbors that make up the region and should be their biggest cheerleader. A local newspaper is there standing firm with the community when it is at its lowest point when large retailers hightail it out of town or community problems need to be solved. It is also there when a large grant is awarded for major and much needed community projects. It supports individuals and residents on a daily basis. There’s a special dynamic between readers and their paper. The newspaper in every community is its most trusted friend who tells the unvarnished truth and steadfastly supports it. The kind of friend and connection that none of us can stand to lose.

Pam Lowe is managing editor at the Clay County Courier in Corning. She can be reached at plowe@cherryroad.com.