Along the Way: Know where you live, what makes it special

Getting to know the place where you live is essential. Remembering where you live — and the people around you — is a matter of life and death in the publishing business.

First, by way of explanation, a little personal progress report:

I now have Continental and Esperanza down pat, although Camino del Sol and La Canada remain a mystery (I can’t remember which is which).

My wife, Marge, and I moved to Green Valley in late October from Tucson, and we’re adapting pretty well.

She’s ahead of me, but I’m improving.

I still can’t figure out why speed limits change suddenly from 30 to 40 mph for no apparent reason on some streets. But I’ve had no problem sharing the road with golf carts. In fact, I admire those who drive them.

OK, all of this is part of becoming familiar with Green Valley.

On the other hand — and bear with me on this — the Albuquerque Tribune newspaper ceased publication last week, the latest in what has become a sad commonplace in America, and I think I know why.

Newspapers, too many of them anyhow, are losing touch with their communities.

Papers, mostly afternoon metropolitan publications, have been dying for decades and autopsy reports all sound alike. Changing reader habits. Rise of television news. Advertisers and readers shifting to other sources of news.

But the bottom line is this: newspapers need to know their people and their community, to feel its heartbeat and what interests — not necessarily titillates — its readership. Newspapers must put their readers first.

A lot of them didn’t and a lot of them died. I’ve been amazed at the energy and enthusiasm of the Green Valley News. The disjuncture between big-city papers and their readers doesn’t exist here.

The digital age isn’t going to topple this little newspaper.

All sorts of math and bookkeeping about paid circulation and such, confounded by the promising though perplexing Web traffic, have been laid on the table to explain why the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and other large national publications (as well as our own metro newspapers here in Arizona) are suffering.

But no metric exists that can explain loyalty, that two-way street between a newspaper devoted to its community and readers who rely on the paper for everything from the weather report to what time the

woodcarvers’ organization meets.

I have become a huge fan of writers Jim Lamb and Regina Ford since we moved here, and I think Mario Aguilar is among the best photographers the state. They contribute enormously to making the Green Valley News indispensable. Young Nick Prevanas is one of the hardest-working sportswriters you’ll find anywhere.

Their talents make it a pleasure to read this newspapers.

But it’s the planning by editors, as well as the coverage, that make the paper essential. The Green Valley News knows its people, what they want and what they need. The “What’s Happening” column in the GVN is a feature the entire community depends on.

In other areas of the country, fewer people are developing the newspaper habit. People who once read those papers every day, now read less often. Some who used to read have stopped altogether.

And I think it boils down to one thing: forget your readers, and they’ll forget you.

John Wayne, the actor who made numerous western movies in this part of the state, was once a newspaper boy. So was Bob Hope, Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante and Presidents Herbert Hoover, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Martin Luther King Jr. carried papers, as did Isaac Asimov, Carl Sandberg, Tom Brokaw, Jackie Robinson, Wayne Gretzky and Dr. Norman Vincent Peale.

Since the beginning of this country, newspapers have been instrumental in educating and informing the public. We all know that. And to see the demise of so many papers is beyond sorrow and sadness.

A bit of irresponsibility comes into play, in my opinion — forgetting your readers and ignoring what’s important to them. Putting profit ahead of people.

From what I’ve seen, that’s not going to happen here. As a new resident and a retired sportswriter, let me tell you something:

We are fortunate to have a newspaper as spunky, robust and dedicated to its readers as the Green Valley News.

It’s a great little newspaper because it’s familiar with this place and the people, what they want and what they need.

This isn’t a “Stop The Presses” article. Good grief, no! It’s a “Keep ‘Em Going” piece.

Former Tucson Citizen columnist Corky Simpson writes a Friday commentary for the Green Valley News.