When the rural Montgomery County township of Towamencin started discussing selling its sewer system, no one paid much attention. That was in September of 2020, and the pitch from township supervisors to study a sale went largely unnoticed, except by The Reporter staff writer Dan Sokil, who chronicled the discussion at township meetings.
From meeting to meeting and interviews in between, the supervisors’ desire to sell the township-owned system to a large company became a larger topic, one that has roiled municipalities from the city of Chester in Delaware County to Exeter Township in Berks.
Since the passage of a state law known as Act 12 that makes it more profitable for conglomerates to buy local systems, a wave of sales and the huge rate increases that follow have been reported.
Sokil’s reporting of the Towamencin effort soon got the attention of township residents who formed an opposition group, NOPE, to urge supervisors to reject the notion of selling. Their motivation was to retain local ownership and control, fueled by other local reporting that showed rate increases after townships sell their systems. The payday from a sale was easy money for new infrastructure or to pay down debt, but the tradeoff was often a hit to households’ utility bills.
Reporters for MediaNews Group newspapers continued to explain and report on the issue, and four years later, Towmencin became the latest in a growing list of municipalities to reject the sale of a public utility. NOPE members took credit for the pressure that brought the dramatic reversal, but they also acknowledge that they would have never awakened to the issue without the local reporting.
That’s the value and power of local newspapers that we celebrate this week as National Newspaper Week.
Consumers of news today get their information in many ways — from cable news networks to local TV news, on digital sites, through social media networks, and news apps on phones and tablets. But more often than not, the source of local reporting for all those outlets begins with the coverage by a community newspaper.
Newspaper reporters are the ones who sit through the school board meetings where complaints of social media offenses, library book content protests and troubling school safety issues first surface. Talk of township sewer systems typically is not a topic on anyone’s Facebook feed until a newspaper story points to the potential to affect household budgets with rising utility bills.
“National Newspaper Week, celebrated [this week], reminds us of the pivotal role local journalism plays nationwide and, in our case, in the Pennsylvania communities where we pursue our livelihoods and rear our families,” writes Bill Cotter, president of the Pennsylvana News Media Association.
“Pennsylvanians … expect, want and need local news coverage that will help us make informed decisions and improve the quality of our lives. In just the past week, more than 6 in 10 Pennsylvania adults read a print or digital newspaper or visited a newspaper website,” he wrote.
National Newspaper Week recognizes the importance newspapers have in communities, not only in bringing issues to light but also in holding public officials accountable and promoting transparency in government. Newspapers also provide the local sports coverage and tell the stories of everyday heroes in our communities.
And, they are trusted neighbors. Each year, MediaNews Group and the newspapers of this region raise money to give children in need gifts and food during the December holiday season. Last year the effort raised more than $90,000 and provided for 184 families with 419 children in Berks, Chester and Montgomery counties. Cash contributions were also made to eight food pantries in the region in January to assist with food purchases during the winter months.
Newspapers are important to the community in other ways, too, particularly the local economy. They hire Pennsylvanians. They pay taxes. They support important organizations within the communities they serve.
Local newspapers are the champions and watchdogs for their communities, a pursuit that is the heart and soul of journalism.
We celebrate this week the readers and advertisers who make that pursuit possible, fueling our commitment to keeping the mission alive, now and for years to come.
