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Source

The Source

An interesting thing, this newspaper business. I’ll admit that I know nothing about the “business” of the business. I can’t remember that last time my check stubs and bank statements even faintly resembled each other. But this new thing that’s popped up around town…The Source. An interesting animal. Just listening to the rumbles its created I’ve heard it referred to as “Oh…you know…What’s the name?….that other paper,” “The Series,” and “That once a week thing.” I assume the publisher is glad that most folks call it by its proper name and I applaud them for their short titling. I write for one newspaper in Missouri that has five words on the masthead and I all can remember is “…Missourian.” But The Source…that I can remember. Technically it’s distributed in Jacksonville …then oozes a bit out into the county. In fact, I know that it occasionally drips over the county line since it hits the Arenzville convenience store, which is about thirty yards from Morgan County. We appreciate the delivery person’s fudging the boundary lines a bit. Perhaps I shouldn’t have mentioned that since I know a banker in Franklin who must stop at County Market, grab a handful of papers and deliver them to the home of the Flashes. Speaking of County Market, I notice that the supermarket runs out The Source before the rack of Illinois Times empties. But maybe the Springfield folks bring more papers. Okay, all of this means nothing. You don’t read a paper because of its title or distribution map. It’s what’s inside, and what’s inside is carefully feeling its way around. The masthead proclaims, “Upbeat, LOCAL News Coverage Serving Morgan County.” I assume that the uppercase LOCAL means the paper concerns itself mainly with area interests. That’s good. Most of us live local. I was a bit shocked last week when I found that all the other writers at the paper were assigned their stories. I asked the editor why I was the only one left on his own. I think she mentioned something about “a loose canon.” So I’ll rumble on… What makes the Source worth reading? Well…the editor is nice. Of course, my definition of a nice editor is one who pays his/her bills on time. Don’t think for a moment that this is always so. In the past year I’ve had two papers default due to a piddly little thing like bankruptcy, and one paper up north…let me be specific…in Fairbury, Illinois …. went an entire year without paying for my column. So why did I keep sending it for a year? The Greek word for “loose canon” translates “idiot.” The Source has lots of color. Like LOCAL, it has LOTS. The tabloid format is nice. You can read it while driving…not that I would actually do that. It occasionally features reviews. Everyone likes reviews if for no other reason than to disagree with them. In its infancy The Source reviewed the local bars and although reading a review is a close as I get to most bars, it was a nice feature. Okay, the reviews were always complimentary but at least I got some specifics on the places my mother always warned me to stay out of. While the larger newspapers use largely full-time staff writers and news services, The Source seems to gather its writers from local folks who’d like to try their hand at journalism. The result varies and as in the case of Sherry Hopkin’s struggles with cancer they can be genuinely moving, but the really cool thing is that sometimes the writing resembles an Internet blog. Nothing wrong with that. People read blogs. It’s not a shopper. I’m not against ad-crammed shoppers, I just don’t read them. Perhaps that’s because I’m not a shopper myself. I wait until I need something then rush out and stupidly pay the premium price on everything I buy. It’s a feature-driven weekly instead of a news-driven daily; therefore comparing content is an apples and oranges thing. Although I’m sure that all newspapers are in competition for advertising revenue, The Source seems to be a nice addition rather than an alternative to our local news scene. Bottom line: Do people like it? Folks who mention it to me are complimentary. I mean, how could you reasonably complain about something for which you pay nothing? A common comment is, “I enjoyed that ..you know…thing you wrote in that…you know.” The speaker seems to run short on proper nouns, but as Mrs. Thomas Paine said to her patriot husband as they stood together watching their house go up in flames, “I think they read your column this week, Tom.”