Anniston Star publisher: Knowing community significant to survival
Kira Reeves
Issue date: 4/1/10 Section: News
H. Brandt Ayers, whose family has published The Anniston Star for more than 100 years, was the guest lecturer for the Ayers Lecture Series held at Houston Cole Library.
Ayers spoke on the topic of "Journalism, Journalists and Technology." He talked about past times and birthing pains that has led to change in the newspaper industry.
One of the last stories he covered as a reporter was the 1963 March on Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
"I was impressed with the power of a movement whose stirring anthem declared: We are not afraid. We will overcome," Ayers said. "Perhaps, this time in our nation is not unlike then ---- the uncertainty of the future and the field of journalism. The nation is again quietly humming the now distant anthem 'Will we overcome.' The community in which we live is an important one. The continued existence of community news is profoundly important."
Ayers said that by waving hello, stopping by for some small talk, knowing your neighbors, your readers, these are significant to the survival of the community paper, and any local business.
"It is precisely that sensitivity that gives a family newspaper its unique personality. It scolds, supports, consoles and chides. It hurts and is hurt, and it loves - like any slightly dysfunctional family," Ayers said.
Ayers said that technology has not only had a significant impact on the way Americans communicate, but how it has changed the way newspapers do business.
He said that the digital revolution has 'isolated and depersonalized [the industry]," Ayers said.
And with the ever increasing use of technology to communicate, Ayers asked: "Will newspapers survive the Digital Age?"
He adds that the "big uncovered story - life as we know it, normality - will always give context to abnormality."
As events make up the lives of the community, newspapers will always be important to readers, Ayers said.
"As long as there are mothers to cry at their daughter's weddings, as long as there are fathers to swell with pride at their sons' exploits on the football field, newspapers will survive. Human nature is a constant: constantly drawing us to its center," he said.
Ayers spoke on the topic of "Journalism, Journalists and Technology." He talked about past times and birthing pains that has led to change in the newspaper industry.
One of the last stories he covered as a reporter was the 1963 March on Washington, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
"I was impressed with the power of a movement whose stirring anthem declared: We are not afraid. We will overcome," Ayers said. "Perhaps, this time in our nation is not unlike then ---- the uncertainty of the future and the field of journalism. The nation is again quietly humming the now distant anthem 'Will we overcome.' The community in which we live is an important one. The continued existence of community news is profoundly important."
Ayers said that by waving hello, stopping by for some small talk, knowing your neighbors, your readers, these are significant to the survival of the community paper, and any local business.
"It is precisely that sensitivity that gives a family newspaper its unique personality. It scolds, supports, consoles and chides. It hurts and is hurt, and it loves - like any slightly dysfunctional family," Ayers said.
Ayers said that technology has not only had a significant impact on the way Americans communicate, but how it has changed the way newspapers do business.
He said that the digital revolution has 'isolated and depersonalized [the industry]," Ayers said.
And with the ever increasing use of technology to communicate, Ayers asked: "Will newspapers survive the Digital Age?"
He adds that the "big uncovered story - life as we know it, normality - will always give context to abnormality."
As events make up the lives of the community, newspapers will always be important to readers, Ayers said.
"As long as there are mothers to cry at their daughter's weddings, as long as there are fathers to swell with pride at their sons' exploits on the football field, newspapers will survive. Human nature is a constant: constantly drawing us to its center," he said.
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Davenport Iowa movers
posted 7/29/10 @ 4:13 PM CST
This is what I am taking away from the article. Did anyone else think this line really stands out?
"As long as there are mothers to cry at their daughter's weddings, as long as there are fathers to swell with pride at their sons' exploits on the football field, newspapers will survive. (Continued…)
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