 There
were many other newspapers in the city at
the time. They were called the neighborhood
newspapers, and there were upwards of 20 of
them throughout the Chicagoland area. These
publications came out just once a week and
carried the news of a specific area within
the city.
The neighborhood paper my family received
when I was a young man was called the
Portage Park Times. It was a simple 12-page
paper that carried the news of the
neighborhood surrounding the park. And for
all the power and money and coverage that
the giant papers had, the Portage Park Times
was a very popular weekly.
The Times didn't carry the same stories
the four major papers did. Rather it told us
about the new park's swimming pool hours or
had pictures of us playing baseball and
everything else you can imagine went on in a
neighborhood filled with people.
I remember the Portage Park Times listed
all the dates and times when churches and
schools and civic organizations were
planning something. It had milestones and
anniversaries and special announcements that
weren't important enough for the big four to
carry in their papers. But these items were
more than important enough for the
neighborhood paper to print. In effect, the
paper was about us, our neighborhood, and
readers loved it.
In a scrapbook, I have a picture of me
swinging a bat in a park game when I was
only 14, nearly a half-century ago. My
mother cut it out and saved it in an album.
The picture was special to her, and that
thought always enters my mind when I am out
taking pictures. "Is this something that
will be kept for years? Is it something
special to someone or perhaps several
people? Do it right, Mike, and make it as
good as you can because this is about people
and your business is people," I think to
myself.
That simple picture, kept by my mom for
decades, reinforces daily the importance of
what I do every time I hold a camera up and
take a picture of someone.
The Portage Park Times was free and was
supported only by advertisers who believed
sponsoring news in the community was the
same as sponsoring the community.
The Lincoln Daily News is just like those
old neighborhood papers, and I think the
success of our publication tells us a lot
about ourselves: we, the producers, and you,
the readers.
People like to have information about
themselves and their projects,
accomplishments or milestones made known to
everyone else. People, even the modest ones,
have a sense of pride in themselves and what
they do that often not only leads to an
interesting story, but also gives them a
pick-me-up that you can just see on their
faces.
I have learned, as our owners, the
Youngquists, already knew, that when you
engage the community you love, that
community will engage and love you back.
I ask where you can find a better job, a
better calling than that.
[to
top of second column] |
It has been such fun talking to people
about their stories and seeing their faces
light up when you tell them it will be in
our paper on such and such date. People, for
all their modesty, love to brag about
themselves, their family or their
organization, if given a chance. And why
not? Good deeds, good work, good effort
does not come with a mandate of silence.
Rather it deserves, even demands, that it be
shared with the rest of the neighborhood, or
in our case, the world.
One of my very bad office jokes is that
if given a choice between a top picture of a
nuclear explosion or one of a bunch of kids
accomplishing something, I go with the kids.
A classic Mike Fak stretch of the
imagination no doubt, but not far from the
truth. For every mug shot or grim story we
as a newspaper are compelled to publish,
there are more thanks for showing a picture
of the school band practicing for football
season in the August heat or youngsters
receiving honors for scholastic achievement.
And maybe, just maybe, the story or picture
gets printed out and put on the refrigerator
or perhaps goes in a mom's scrapbook. Can
there be a better compliment or mandate to
try harder than that thought?
As a paper we have a responsibility to
deliver all the news, good or bad, in a
responsible way.
To be sure, the economy, sad and
troubling stories, and all the other
important events that shape our daily lives
belong in the news and should be available
for public discourse. We do that every day,
hand-choosing the Associated Press stories
we think you would be most interested in.
But there is more to us than just those
stories. And we believe it is up to the
neighborhood newspaper to tell us and show
us that not everything in the world is
wrong. Not everything is worthy of
lamentation. There is triumph of
accomplishment in our world, especially
here, where we live and work and try so hard
to be better than the day before.
As LDN celebrates its 10th anniversary, I
want to tell all of you it has been my
privilege these past two years to be
associated with LDN. It has been my blessing
to be associated with all of you.
I just didn't know you people were so
darn busy.
[By
MIKE FAK]
 |
