Don't Just Blame the Media - Be the Media

by: Steve Fowle

Wed Feb 24, 2010 at 13:00:47 PM EST

As the party allegedly responsible for all aspects of the management of our venerable institution the Editor would like to apologize for his rotten performance. True, readers have frequently expressed appreciation for the paper as it has been. But they are not in a position to see what it ought to be.

The New Hampshire Gazette has three natural advantages which lift it right out of the quicksand engulfing the common run of corporate-owned, profit-driven rags.

One is, of course, our unparalleled seniority. Americans have always been fascinated by the new and flashy, but they have not lost their respect and appreciation for the old and authentic.

Another is that our overhead expenses are low enough - almost nonexistent - to cause any other publisher to gnash his teeth in bitter envy.

Finally, and perhaps most important, we are utterly independent. Unlike the typical corporate-owned newspaper dutifully paying lip service to the First Amendment, with our independence we can actually use it. We're sure it is this latter quality which inspires our readers to support the paper.

What we find frustrating is the knowledge that with the financial advantage we enjoy, we should be reaching far more readers. The cost of printing additional papers is negligible. In fact, it's insanely cheap - about a nickel per copy.

Distribution - getting the papers to where people can pick them up - is really the only challenge. For years now, volunteers have handled our distribution in downtown Portsmouth.

What we need are more volunteers: people with half an hour or so to spare, every other week, who are willing to take 100 or 200 papers around to a dozen places or so, somewhere where they'll be going anyway.

We don't all the details worked out yet. We haven't worked out a management system yet. We thought we'd start with the one indispensible part - the people.

We believe there are enough people out there willing to help with this to make it possible for us to greatly expand our readership. But the only way to find out is to ask. If this sounds like your kind of fun, e-mail the editor at this address: editors [at] nhgazette.com.