We take the business of being a community newspaper seriously. That includes focusing on news that matters to our readers and helps them be informed, including at this time, the area’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
As a result, we are upping our coverage of the pandemic, including how our local governments and agencies are handling it, sound advice from health experts, and certainly, how our local communities are reacting, which includes cancellations of public events to reduce the possibility of exposure.
To give people easier access to our coverage online, we will be lifting the pay meter to any local stories related to COVID-19. That means non-subscribers may read them for free.
On the national level, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic includes the NCAA canceling its basketball tournaments, Broadway suspending its shows, and Disneyland and Disney World is closing for a month. Many companies in the Boston area have closed their offices and their employees are working remotely. Colleges were among the first to close and opt for distance-learning. The list goes on.
Here in Franklin County and the North Quabbin area, many organizations have opted to follow suit. Political meetings, community suppers and arts events have likewise been canceled. The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has delayed the start of the spring season for high school sports.
As of this writing, we have not had a report of a confirmed case in our area. If that does happen, we will be ready to report on that and other developments — in all the areas we cover from community news to business to sports. Certainly, the pandemic will have an effect on the local economy. (We say support our local businesses as best you can.)
And if the coronavirus pandemic does take hold locally, we may be changing the way we do business here at the Recorder, including working remotely. (Actually, we had a test run during a December snowstorm that kept us working at home.)
We will be counting on the news team to report those stories, as we always do.
Plus, we will use coverage from our sister paper, The Daily Hampshire Gazette, as needed. We will count on wire services for international, national and state coverage.
More than anything, we want everyone to be healthy during this time and to take the necessary precautions to remain that way. We are in this situation together.
Have an event cancellation you want our readers to know? Please email it to news@recorder.com by 2 p.m. so we can include it in the next day’s paper.
Have a story you would like to pitch on the topic? Again, email your idea to the address above.