@Normal:Worth what we pay for

The Friday, May 25, Times Argus as a great edition, full of informative and well-written local and Vermont news items, and a good selection of national stories. Throw in a poignant commentary on prostitution, a few tempting recipes, my lacrosse-playing kid getting a mention, and with coffee in hand, I had one of the day’s simple pleasures. The always entertaining Barre and Montpelier police logs would have been the icing on the cake, but you can’t have everything in life.

My friend and journalist John Curran once said that for quality, unbiased, traditional news media to survive readers need to think of the price for the daily paper or an online subscription as a donation to the cause; similar to the public radio or public television models. Consider that dollar as supporting a free press, where journalistic integrity matters, and accuracy is strived for.

I read the occasional letters to the editor voicing pedantic complaints about misspellings, or abruptly ended articles, or the skimpy number of pages, and can empathize with the letter writer. But we support our local stores, sometimes at a higher cost, for the caliber of the product, and the social good it creates. The same could be said for the local media; financial support will strengthen it, bailing out will continue to weaken it.

Sure, I would want my community newspaper to be 40 pages, and flawlessly written, but we get what we collectively pay for.

My mufflerless delivery person every day heralds the arrival of The Times Argus, and I like the sound of that.

James Surwilo

Montpelier