A saint I ain’t… Historical foundations

When we look back through the archived pages of our newspapers, we get a bird’s eye view of how things were done over 100 years ago. Some things really stand out.

Perhaps the first thing that jumps off the pages is the lack of what would today we call “political correctness”. Opinions and humour back in the day were pretty much unbridled. There was no filter on the editors’ typewriters 100 or more years ago. They said whatever was on their minds and sometimes their comments very bluntly called out politicians and citizens alike.

We should probably not go back the the almost vicious commentary that appeared in the old time newspapers. That’s best left to the internet and Twitter (satire intended). At least the very negative comments in papers from days of old could be attributed to a real person who could be tracked down and held accountable. That’s often not possible in the internet world and that is a very real problem. If you can’t be identified, you probably shouldn’t be saying it.

Also, 100 plus years ago, the newspaper was pretty much the only source and place for discussion. There were no phones or computers, few movie theatres and no radio or TV stations. No internet either.

As far as advertising went it was the newspaper, perhaps posters and the Eatons, Sears or Hudson Bay catalogues. The newspaper was king.

I will be the first to admit that newspapers have a lot of competition today, but I would also maintain that a good community newspaper is still