'Newspaper is true and genuine'

So much of what once was is now gone. I am happy to still be able to get the newspaper from a street hawker in front of my business. It is a tradition that goes back centuries.

It takes a lot of effort to produce and distribute a newspaper. The machine that prints it is bigger than a bus. All of its news sources and news gathering methods are time honored and well vetted. You get more information on a news item than a television or radio 'sound bite' can provide as well as news stories they don't have time for. Our local newspaper tells us of births and deaths, police and fire reports, the results of the court cases and government meetings and all the local news that's fit to print.

A newspaper allows you to read a person's thoughts without the distraction of the opposing view trying to talk over them. You can get a clearer view and wash your windows with the newspaper. You can find firewood and set it alight. You can find a puppy and paper train it.

The newspaper cannot be hacked. Once printed it cannot be altered. The newspaper does not follow you around or collect information about you so it can tell you what you want to hear. When someone tells me some wild tale that they saw on the internet, I say I'll believe it when I read it in the Daily American Republic. In a world of swirling internet lies and fake news only the newspaper is true and genuine.

Mark H. Mercer

Poplar Bluff