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HARTINGTON — Dan Kathol has no empathy for people who aren’t subscribers to the local newspaper here.
“I wish more people would take the Cedar County News,” he said. “People come up to me and say they don’t know what’s going on. If you don’t get the paper, you’re not going to know what’s going on.”
The 73-year-old Hartington man has seen the power of the press firsthand in leading community initiatives — most recently the development of the new veterans memorial downtown. He said the project more than three years in the making wouldn’t have seen it through to completion without the support of the Cedar County News.
“I had to raise a half million dollars. People just aren’t going to give you money from the blue sky unless they know what’s going on,” Kathol said.
From news stories to donation requests and an artist’s rendering, the newspaper provided updates throughout the entire process.
In recognition of National Newspaper Week, celebrated Oct. 1-7 in 2023, Kathol was one of several area residents who shared thoughts on the role of local newspapers, from government watchdog to community advocate and storyteller.
Hartington-Newcastle Public Schools Superintendent A.J. Johnson appreciates the newspaper’s focus on highlighting local people and providing positive stories.
“There is so much negative news nationally about schools, but local papers like the Cedar County News show how there is a lot of positive happening in our school and other schools in the area,” he said.
But besides providing those nice stories, the newspaper serves a serious and important role as government watchdog, holding government officials accountable for their actions.
“Public schools are amongst the most transparent organizations there are. However, people aren’t always aware of what happens in schools,” Johnson said. “Having a local paper that reports on our meetings and other areas in our schools helps us have an even greater level of transparency because then people don’t have to work to find the information.”
Without a trustworthy public source — like a local newspaper — Johnson fears the public would be unaware of important issues or would rely solely on word of mouth, which could lead to misinformation.
“I feel like the newspaper is a trusted source because they work to find direct, original sources, rather than going on word of mouth,” Johnson said. “So many rumors get started via social media and people don't have the time to check into their accuracy. That is one of the main roles of the paper — to provide the public with accurate information.”
As a Cedar County commissioner, Dick Donner is one of those public officials being watched over by the press.
“Some of our meetings get pretty casual sometimes,” he said. “We need to understand there is somebody monitoring, watching and asking questions and you try to conduct yourselves in said fashion.”
He was complimentary of Cedar County News Reporter Mark Mahoney, who regularly sits in on the bimonthly commissioner meetings that are often several hours long.
“He’s not afraid to speak up right there, and if he doesn’t feel like something is very clear, he will ask to clarify it. It helps us stay on our toes. You don’t have a lot of people coming to ask real tough questions,” Donnersaid.
Donner said the Cedar County News is just one of several print publications he enjoys and he is one to carefully analyze the source of any information he receives. “Something that comes in the paper carries a little more weight than the social media gibberish,” he said. Established 125 years ago, the weekly Cedar County News has undergone many changes in technology and publishers. Rob Dump and Peggy Year purchased the Cedar County News in 1992 and have now owned the newspaper longer than any of the nine previous publishers. They currently own other Cedar County newspapers, including The Randolph Times and Laurel Advocate, as well as the nearby Wausa Gazette and Osmond Republican.
Donner, Johnson and Kathol all agree that Hartington is fortunate to have a local newspaper in town, especially one that is dedicated to the county and its residents. Unfortunately, there are several counties in Nebraska without a newspaper. More than 40 of the state’s 93 counties have only a single countywide news publication.
“We’ve got to be supportive of our local newspaper,” Kathol said. “When a town loses its local newspaper, it’s kind of like losing a grocery store.”
He recognizes that every role at the newspaper, from publisher and reporter to designer and ad sales manager, can often be a thankless job.
“I’d be stressed out 100 percent of the time,” Kathol said. “You look at the section after the Cedar County Fair. You look at all the pages and pages of detail and small print. How did someone put that all together? Newspapers have always kind of amazed me how they get it all done.”
