By Bobbi Eggers
I have a confession to make. In a world where everyone is glued to their phones, scrolling through feeds pushed on us by algorithms, I still read a local newspaper. On purpose. With my coffee. Without apology.
And I think you should too.
Of course, I also voraciously read and listen to news digitally, on my phone, on TV, on screens. It’s my business. I work in PR and Communications. But digital feeds are not showing you the wide world. The algorithm is interested in keeping you engaged and the fastest way to do that, it turns out, is fear. Conflict. Division. Outrage. The thing that makes your blood pressure rise and your finger keep scrolling.
Local news does something radical by comparison. It shows you our whole town, wide open for all to see. Politics on all sides; what a novel idea. Op-eds about Town Hall meetings, a neighbor or teacher who died, a house on your street that’s for sale, a fundraiser for a nonprofit you never heard of, but relieved to know it exists. That is what the local news does. It lets you stumble upon “aha” information. Stumbling is important and leads to people diving into their community.
National coverage is conflict-driven, while local news is community-driven. That is the choice we make every morning when we decide where to get our news. We need to get granular. It seems to be what is working well in this country. Be a part of the fabric of the town you live in.
Studies show that reading local news increases voter turnout, no surprise. Getting to know candidates motivates people to vote. Local news increases democracy at work.
Pew Research has found that 85 percent of Americans believe local news is important to the well-being of their community. And yet — we keep scrolling. We keep letting the algorithm decide what matters.
I have spent years working in nonprofits in Fairfield County and I can tell you from the inside: this town is extraordinary. The generosity here is surprising. The people doing quiet, essential, unglamorous work every single day for their neighbors makes me proud to live here.
The New Canaan Sentinel will tell you about all of them.
Supporting local business matters — we know that every dollar spent at a local business returns far more to our community than a click on Amazon ever will. The same logic applies to news. When you read local news, you are investing in the information ecosystem of this town. You are supporting the reporters who go to the zoning meetings to share that with you, to hold our local officials accountable, review a new restaurant, celebrate our neighbors, and remind us — week after week — that we are part of something worth caring about.
Fairfield County is not just the Instagram drone shots of waterfront properties or horse shows attended by women in white linen dresses and big hats. It is an interesting, educated, diverse community. Crack it open.
Read local news. Support it. Let yourself be surprised by your town.
