Traverse City Record-Eagle

Record-Eagle 150th Anniversary

Related Photos

April 6, 2009

Loraine Anderson: Newspapers face change

Wanted To Borrow

Historic Record-Eagles, old newspaper carrier bags, composing sticks, ink rollers, mallets and other earlier tools of the trade. "Type lice," "left-handed brooms," and other printer jokes also appreciated. Contact Loraine Anderson at (231) 933-1468 or landerson@record-eagle.com.

This column is, in part, a request.

The Record-Eagle is preparing for its Grand Traverse Heritage Center exhibit in June and July, part of a year-long celebration of our 150th birthday.

This column also is a commentary on newspapers today and predictions of their doom.

It's true that the newspaper industry faces serious challenges today, but I don't believe the forecasts, especially after more than a year of researching the Record-Eagle's history, its relationship to Traverse City and the many technological and economic transitions that newspapers, this city and region have survived over the last 15 decades.

A strong symbiotic relationship exists between strong communities and strong newspapers like the Traverse City area and the Record-Eagle. The newspapers, particularly local newspapers committed to their communities, advertisers and readers, will survive and probably adapt new forms for as long as Americans treasure our Bill of Rights and democracy.

What is happening in the industry now isn't about doom. It's about transition, restructuring, reformatting and adjusting to the most rapid technological shift ever -- the Internet. It's uncomfortable, scary and painful, but it isn't going to kill off the need for newspapers and the role they play.

The Internet's impact on lives and minds across the world is as big as the invention of the wheel, Gutenberg's moveable type, Henry Ford's assembly line, radio, TV and the atomic bomb.

Change happens. Formats evolve, but some things remain constant.

Newspapers help maintain a sense of place and community, something precious in a global world. People, businesses, government officials and communities need trained reporters, editors and news organizations committed to accurate, fair and credible reporting that informs, explains and probes to help them make sense of this world we live in. You have only to read a few blogs to understand that.

A city without a strong, independent newspaper is like a town without a school, local government, college, courts, businesses and local sports teams. It has no community forum, no cheerleader, no effective way for advertisers to promote products and services locally and regionally. No organization that probes and explains local issues, that supports good government decisions and questions bad ones, that chronicles individual acts of greatness and goodness in our daily lives.

Newspapers are the foundation of almost all news on wire services, TV and radio broadcasts and the Internet. Even bloggers and talk show hosts feed on them.

Pioneer towns needed strong banks, strong newspapers concerned about the local community to survive.

I don't think that's much different today, but the technology sure is.

Text Only
  • WILLIAM MILLIKEN
    After looking back, we look to the future

    In this last installment of the Record-Eagle's year-long 150th Anniversary History Project series, native son Bill Milliken ponders the future, including the question: What will the Traverse City area be like in 2159?

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:14 am 9 Photos
  • Derek Bailey: Cooperation is key
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    I am excited and optimistic in thinking about my predictions for the area and Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians for the next 150 years. Clearly, we live in one of the most beautiful areas of Mother Earth. The GTB Tribal Nation has grown exponentially as an area and tribe over the last 29 years. We must now sustain and channel that growth.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:12 am 1 Photo
  • George McManus: Manage resources
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    The Grand Traverse Region is blessed with abundant renewable natural resources, which properly managed, will remain for the next 150 years and beyond. The community of the future depends on what direction the citizenry and leadership decide to take and external influences over which they have no control.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Marsha Smith: Listen to each other
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    The Grand Vision has shown me that the people of this region love it here and have a commitment to building a better future. We care about what happens here and we care about the future. My main concern is that we sometimes forget about all things we hold in common and focus more on what keeps us apart.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:11 am 1 Photo
  • Joe VanderMeulen: Plan for six generations
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    We need to look forward across six or more generations of people to see 150 years into the future. What wonderful changes there may be, if we choose wisely, just get lucky, or some of both. Of course, we face many threats to our security and survival. The risks of deadly pandemics, global climate change and unimaginable wars are real.

    Continued ...
    Nov 8, 2009 7:10 am 1 Photo
  • November 2, 2009
  • Women helped build Traverse City
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    Women helped build Traverse City's library system, schools and hospital. They lobbied for clean water and clean streets. They were concerned about the needy, child labor, reforestation, international peace and the right of women to vote. They did this largely through two local women's clubs -- the Ladies Library Association and the Traverse City Woman's Club.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:17 am 4 Photos
  • TC's early women leaders

    Thirteen women who influenced early Traverse City are profiled.

    Continued ...
    Nov 2, 2009 6:15 am
  • October 31, 2009
  • TC history exhibit visits TADL

    The Record-Eagle's traveling exhibit of Traverse City and newspaper history will be on display throughout November at the Traverse Area District Library on Woodmere.

    Continued ...
    Oct 31, 2009 9:30 pm
  • October 19, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: TC's 1925 earthquake
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    Earthquakes are rare in Michigan, but Traverse City residents definitely felt the earth move beneath their feet and watched electric ceiling lights sway overhead on Feb. 28, 1925. "EARTHQUAKE HERE FIRST EVER FELT: Dishes Rattle, Chairs Rock, Smokers 'Swear Off' and People in High Places Come Down," Record-Eagle headlines shouted after tremors rattled the city at 8:27 p.m. that Saturday night.

    Continued ...
    Oct 19, 2009 7:00 am 1 Photo
  • October 5, 2009
  • Water Wars: Advocating for 'public trust'
    Jim Olson

    It was a busy summer on the water front for Great Lakes advocates in what environmentalists and others are calling "The Water Wars."

    Continued ...
    Oct 5, 2009 6:18 am 3 Photos
  • October 3, 2009
  • R-E editorial decries water diversion

    Record-Eagle concern about Great Lakes water diversion dates to the early 1900s, including a Jan. 14, 1925, editorial about the U.S. governments challenge of Chicagos right to divert Lake Michigan water without consulting its neighbors.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • Summary of summer Great Lakes water issues

    Great Lakes water issues this summer included the following.

    Continued ...
    Oct 3, 2009 9:55 pm
  • September 28, 2009
  • 150 Years: Bay served as sewer, water supply
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    The Boardman River in Traverse City wasn't a pretty sight at the turn of the last century. It was a city sewer, and it flowed into West Bay, the source of the city's water supply.

    Continued ...
    Sep 28, 2009 7:18 am 7 Photos
  • August 10, 2009
  • 150 Years: Cartographer maps settlements
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    Helen Hornbeck Tanner, a Beulah summer resident and historian of Great Lakes American Indians and cartography, created a new historical map of the Grand Traverse region that traces early American Indian and white settlement.

    Continued ...
    Aug 10, 2009 6:39 am 2 Photos
  • July 27, 2009
  • Loraine Anderson: Tracking Titus
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    Harold Titus has been one of my favorite Traverse City historical characters since I read "Timber," his 1922 novel, last year. He intrigues me for many reasons. Part of his mystery is that he is virtually unknown today. He is "new" local history.

    Continued ...
    Jul 27, 2009 8:06 am 1 Photo