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May 14, 2010
Full of learning opportunities
The Jewish Independent has played a big role in educating us all.
BETTY NITKIN
For many people, a daily or weekly newspaper consists of a number of pieces of paper that one reads and recycles as quickly as possible. But is that all there is to it, or can a paper be used to learn about a community, a city or a country?
When an historian researches a topic dealing with people or places in the modern era, one of the first places he/she looks is at archived newspapers. They provide an accounting of what has happened as the events unfolded. Think about it for a moment. Is that not why we buy our daily/weekly papers? We want to know what is happening, whether in just our community/city, our country or the world in general.
We read the articles and, whether we agree or disagree with them, we may take the time to write letters to the editor. Some send letters of support. Both the article and letters give the historian a glimpse into what has happened and why there is disagreement with a particular view. Thus, the historian is able to learn a great deal about a particular issue from the local perspective.
However, this also means that those who are reading the newspaper at the time of publication will also learn about the issues of the day, and why some agree or disagree with the facts or opinion being presented. Therefore, a newspaper is one part of the mechanism of learning – i.e. part of the educational process – for a community.
This is one of the reasons large daily newspapers will offer special deals to high schools, for instance. This age group is in the early stages of learning about the world, so what better way of teaching than making a newspaper available to the teens? One could be cynical and say that the newspaper wants the teenagers to get into the habit of reading its paper to increase circulation, but the result is that this important audience is exposed to many columnists, varied information and diverse opinions.
But what about a community paper? After all, it’s smaller, usually cannot afford as many columnists and doesn’t, by its very mandate, reach a huge audience. True, but that’s exactly what makes it a “community” paper. The columnists are part of the community and are, therefore, able to offer perspective on intracommunal issues, or they can challenge us to think critically. And, again, letters to the editor can provide yet another perspective.
One can learn what is happening in the arts, cultural activities, sporting events and even educational fields, as organizations publicize upcoming events, fundraisers and educational forums. When a community paper represents a particular ethnic group, it will very often feature articles about members of the group who live in different parts of the world. In our case, we read about Jews from across Canada, North America, Israel and many other countries. This allows for amazing learning opportunities – more evidence that ethnic community papers are part of a community’s educational system.
Do readers consider the above? Probably not often and, yet, that is exactly what is happening. For those who choose to be a part of a specific community, their papers enrich their experiences, making them aware of different segments and differing opinions.
Unfortunately, people living in a relatively small community can sometimes expect their local paper to be like that of the local daily, which draws from the entire area, not just from a narrow population. Perhaps this is the component about which the newspaper needs to educate its readers. Not an easy task by any means.
So, like most issues in a community, the relationship between education and newspapers is complex. Newspapers are learning tools, they present different sides of an issue – if we’re lucky – and sometimes they even bring a new issue to our attention.
We should all be aware of the issues faced by a community paper vis-à-vis its size and the number of columnists and the degree of support from advertising and community institutions.
So, what can a member of a community do in addition to subscribing? React to articles, submit articles, offer accurate publicity on time, take out an ad and, finally, talk about what you’ve learned with family, especially teens, and friends. In other words, keep educating ourselves and our neighbors.
Betty Nitkin is a long-time adult educator in the community, who recently retired from being the director of the Florence Melton School Adult Mini School in 2009.
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