Meeting our readers

Last week the editors and publisher of The Millerton News held a public meeting with readers who came to ask questions and hear about plans for the future. The meeting was held in the Annex at the NorthEast-Millerton Library on Wednesday, Sept. 27, and drew an audience of about 40 people. It was a friendly gathering. We served delicious ice cream from Chaseholm Farm in Pine Plains. Editors fielded questions from readers that revealed a strong interest in preserving our local newspaper, and there also were requests for us to explore some topics and issues with more rigor. 

Discussion also touched on the future of The Millerton News — a fair question these days given the survival rate of community newspapers that continue to face pressures from declining revenues and loss of readers who turn to social media platforms for their news. 

The message was clear. The Millerton News is dedicated to serving eastern Dutchess County and its towns now and into the future. The Millerton News has been a fixture in this community for 91 years, having been founded in 1932 by a former reporter for the New York Sun. Before that, the only paper in Millerton was the Telegram, founded in 1876. In all the years since that initial beginning, there was only a five-year span — between 1927 and 1932 — when there was no newspaper in Millerton. 

In more recent decades, after The News was purchased by the owner of The Lakeville Journal in 1972, ownership has changed hands a couple of times, but remained a locally owned, independent newspaper. In 2021, the business became a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization. A new board came into being, and efforts were started to rebuild the newsrooms of both The Journal and The News after the recent pandemic knocked us back.

Some readers at the Wednesday get-together commented about the importance of a community newspaper, remembering what it used to be like in simpler times when people sat on their front porches in the evenings, visiting with neighbors and sharing life’s stories. A recent poll of 5,000 Americans over the age of 18 revealed some clear evidence of the need for that community glue. Four out of five people said they read a local newspaper to stay informed and to feel connected to their community. A similar percentage said they read a newspaper to help them decide where they stand on an issue. Others said it was a way to find places to go and things to do. 

Ask anyone you know who reads their local newspaper cover to cover, and you might well hear that they find it enjoyable and entertaining to be a better citizen. That, too, was one of the findings of the study. Imagine a world these days (considering our bitter national political climate) in which people aspire to be better citizens. 

One question that came up Wednesday night asked how The Millerton News differed from The Lakeville Journal. The way we see it, The News is its own newspaper. We recognize that some stories matter to readers of both papers, such as reports about Sharon Hospital, which actually has more patient visits from Dutchess County than Litchfield County. Obituaries provide another example of news that reaches both sides of the border. 

Aside from some regional overlap, each paper stands on its own. We intend to keep it that way. Building back the newsroom at each paper will ensure that our readers will find interesting, relevant and vital news coverage of their own communities. That’s our plan for the future, and we’ve already made a start. 

We will hold more community forums to meet and learn from our readers.