Congratulations to the Munising Beacon, especially to Editor Brice Burge, on becoming a printed publication. We are very happy for the Munising community to have a true newspaper again.
A community needs a newspaper, and a true community newspaper is a gift. It’s a news source and an announcement board and a public forum. It’s you – your people, places, and things.
While large-scale daily newspapers are struggling to carry on, community newspapers are not experiencing the same difficulties. They may not be amply staffed, but a community newspaper like the Munising Beacon is a one-of-a-kind organization paying attention to Alger County in a way that no one else is.
Today, it’s a benefit for you. In the future, today’s Munising Beacon is a careful preservation of history.
That’s the kind of thing that was lost after The Munising News closed. Business took place, events happened, and loved ones were lost—but that information is hard to track down now. No one can know all of what’s missing, but it is missing.
But let’s stick to the good news. You have a newspaper again. You have a beautiful opportunity to see Alger County’s places and faces in context again.
I hope you’ll make this your Munising Beacon. Submit story ideas, or offer to write stories yourself. Share your thoughts via letters to the editor. Email the Beacon with cool pictures of ice formations on Lake Superior or photos of your pets reading the paper.
In Newberry, I’ve learned that the best way to make a community newspaper is to say yes to the ideas from our community members. When someone wants to submit a Mother’s Day poem: Yes. When a mother wants to share news of her son’s military promotion: Yes. When a retiree wants to write a reminiscing humor column: Yes.
100th birthdays: Yes. Honor rolls: Yes. Homeschool news: Yes. Bear in my backyard photos: Yes.
When “yes” is the answer, the newspaper reflects our community, because it’s filled by our community. Front to back, the Beacon is yours.
Similarly, Alger County needs to say yes to the Beacon. Please embrace the Beacon. Sign up for subscriptions, place ads, buy copies off the stand, offer to share your pictures from the volleyball game or the Fourth of July parade. The paper will thrive with your support.
Best wishes for a long and storied career, Brice and Beacon crew. We are rooting for you, and we’re so glad you’re here.
Carol Stiffler is the co-owner and editor of The Newberry News, the 2022 Michigan Press Association Newspaper of the Year. She can be reached at the Newberry News office at 906-293-8401.