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COCULLO: Newspapers go beyond the soundbite

Why #newspapersmatter to me #nowmorethanever
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#Newspapersmatter to The Northern View reporter, Jenna Cocullo, because they provide a moment to sit down and digest all the information from the media. (Alex Kurial / The Northern View)

My earliest memory engaging with the news media was watching the national broadcast on television and asking the “why” to everything I saw.

I always knew I would want to be a journalist one day but the format would have to be print because I knew that newspapers can provide something that broadcast news could not.

They go beyond the soundbite.

Do not misunderstand me. Our colleagues in broadcast work just as long, hard and diligently as their print counterparts. It’s just the nature of the beast. But there’s only so much you can do with limited airtime. Even time for special mini-documentaries is limited in the sense that you can only broadcast one in-depth topic at a time.

READ AND WATHC MORE: #newspapersmatter to other newspapers. Meet the other two-thirds of our regional team and of course Nellie the gecko

Newspapers matter to me because they provide that moment of self-reflectivity. To just sit down with a physical paper in your hands — or an iPad reading the news online — is a special thing that we often take for granted.

Newspapers matter to me now more than ever because in the digital age, that moment of second-thought is more crucial than ever before.

We are bombarded by headlines, sound bites, tweets and Facebook posts from our leaders. We soak it all in and react before we have had a chance to analyze it.

Newspapers are your analysis. They answer the why and go in-depth. They compile all the sides into a story.

And you know you can trust us because you see us every day out and about. You see our faces at council, at dance recitals, at rallies and on the street asking your opinion. It is the readers who can best detect the B.S. from their local reporters because you know your community and you know where to find us when something is not right.

While newspapers are increasingly shifting more toward their online presence to compete in today’s market I would hate to see printed copies disappear.

They bind us to our communities in a way that online simply cannot. It is like a silent promise, a contract, that we will be there every week in the community delivering news you can trust. And you will pick up to read, to question, and to hold us to account when we are not holding others to account.

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Jenna Cocullo | Journalist
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