We understand the financial constraints The Greenfield Recorder is facing during this present pandemic, which is only exacerbated by the loss of advertising revenue.
Making necessary cuts to newspaper expenses is both prudent and reasonable but we wonder if some choices made were in the best interest for your subscription numbers. Cutting local columnists like Chris Collins on the editorial page and Chip Ainsworth on the sports page is a costly loss for those readers who subscribe to The Recorder for local flavor and appeal.
It is easy to find national and state news in various other newspapers and internet platforms but our ability to access local news rests on the newsprint of The Greenfield Recorder on a daily basis. We check out the front page for any house fire or car accident we need to be aware of, the obituary page to make sure we didn’t miss the loss of a local friend or peer, and the local section to catch up on area news, including the latest school committee meeting, city council meeting, as well as the excellent local features the Recorder correspondents contribute each day. We also enjoy the photographs of good deeds being conducted in the community.
For 20 years, Chris Collins has been In The Arena, letting us into the inner circle of local politics, deciphering what a particular bill or resolution was all about, and offering his institutional knowledge of the area, having been born and raised here.
Chip Ainsworth’s lifelong knowledge of local sports events and personalities is also an important value for the Recorder readers. The Recorder’s reading population dates back at least three generations. They stood by The Greenfield Recorder-Gazette and later The Greenfield Recorder through a depression, a world war, the radical 60s, the turbulent 70s and into the modern era, including 9/11. Many of us who now read the paper once delivered it in our youth as Recorder paper carriers — going all the way back to the afternoon deliveries!
We understand that COVID-19 is different from all previous challenges. But Recorder readers have stood by the paper through it all because we believe in local newspapers. Especially during this time of social distancing and self-isolation, please don’t rob us of two of The Greenfield Recorder’s greatest gifts. We need these local boys back on the pages of The Recorder. Perhaps a fundraiser might help?
Wid Perry lives in Greenfield.