Ronda Rich

Ronda Rich

Newspapers are in a world of hurt right now. They have been staggering since 2008. We need newspapers. When someone walks up to me at church and pulls out a clipping of one of my columns, I know how much that column means because it's tucked in the Bible. 


It was so interesting to see what Mama had tucked in her Bible. She had her Daddy's obituary and a wedding announcement of someone she was fond of, along with other things.


Without newspapers, what will we tuck in our Bibles? Tink and I subscribe to three newspapers - a local daily, a local weekly, and the Wall Street Journal. And we read them. My niece Nicole's son played high school football last year and was a track star who finished high in the state meets. It seemed like every week, I was picking up the newspaper and watching Nix Burkett take a flying leap and make a tackle. I always cut them out. 


There's a line in an old Miranda Lambert song that says, "Everybody dies famous in a small town." That's very true and that is primarily due to local newspapers who make stars out of the best cook in town, the fastest baseball pitcher, the folks who put in a turnip patch and give the turnips away to the local folks.

Sometimes, a mission field is not in Africa. 


It's in our own backyard. Tink and I have learned that and we try to focus on people around us who need a dollar or helping hand. We're trying to keep an eye on our elderly friends at this time. I went to the grocery store on Sunday for an older neighbor and Tink cut the lawn for a woman whose husband has had a very bad downturn in his health and she has her hands full.


Please, look around at your local newspaper and view it as a brave warrior who is wounded and needs a hand. A mission field in your own backyard. If you don't subscribe, please make a subscription now. If you already subscribe, please, think of someone who might enjoy a gift subscription.


How a newspaper chronicles the life of a small town is important for now and for the value it will have in the future. Without newspapers, a lot of history would be lost. We cannot count on human memory.


Thanks to newspapers, we know stories that we would not know otherwise. For the sake of your children's children, help your hometown newspaper in any way you can.



Ronda Rich is a best-selling author and syndicated columnist.

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