In defense of small-town news

I hear it more frequently than you'd imagine – in doctor's offices, from family friends I've known for years, even professionals in other fields.
It's definitely a joke, purely jest on their part, but it always turns my mind in thought.
The comment is usually brought forth when they ask what I do for a living, and I tell them – quite proudly too – that I write for two local newspapers in Monticello.
“There's enough happening in Monticello for two newspapers?” they ask, customarily with a joking laugh.
I usually respond with a chipper, “you'd be surprised!” before the conversation shifts onto other topics.
Nestled next to busy Tallahassee and booming Leon County, I can almost understand why they'd be amazed that “sleepy little” Monticello has enough news and happenings to fill up two newspapers twice a week, but I also beg to protest.
I grew up in small, country towns (except for a brief few years in my childhood where my family lived in a Tallahassee townhouse and then an apartment – aside from being able to get delivery pizza, there was not a lot of benefits to those homes).
For the most part, my parents raised me and my siblings away from the tightly packed suburbs of bigger cities and opted to let us grow up on dusty dirt roads, in back yard forests and country fields.
I learned to drive on rural back roads and waking up to the sound of roosters or cows is more natural to me than waking up to the sound of traffic and neighbors.
While I will usually refer to Tallahassee as my hometown (since I have always lived within an hour and a half, usually closer, to the capital city), the truth is that those small towns like Madison, Blountstown, Perry and Altha are more my “home” than Tallahassee has ever been.
It is with little surprise that, even though I am not a native of Jefferson County, I feel completely at home in this busy little town.
As such, I am almost surprised that people would find astonishment in a small town and community that are able to generate enough news to warrant their own newspaper.
People who are astounded that small towns stay busy obviously don't know that small town parades are as looked-forward-to as festivals and take place on almost every national holiday; or that small town communities are bustling with interesting people who all carry their own life stories, talents, skills, and adventures.
While big-city newspapers feature news of what's happening in the senate or congress, or what new celebrity has been accused of some misdeed – you'll find simpler tales in a small town newspaper.
A local author has published a biography of a local hero, a local business is giving back to the community, a local civic group is sending local students to college, a local school is growing and building new classrooms – the list can go on and on.
Anywhere there are people, there is news to be reported on, stories to be told, events to be documented and citizens to be recognized.
To believe those small town communities are too sleepy, little or isolated to deserve their own newspaper is to doubt that those communities have people worth reading about or values worth reporting on.
I have been serving Monticello as a reporter at ECB Publishing, Inc. for almost a year now.
In that year, I have written news articles about renowned artists who call Monticello home, new businesses that have been welcomed by the Chamber of Commerce, students and athletes that have signed agreements with nationally recognized colleges and universities, small-town politics that have received attention from Tallahassee lawmakers and politicians, citizens and organizations that have had influences beyond the Jefferson County line and events that have drawn people from all around the nation to this “sleepy” little county.
Sure, big news happens in big cities, but not everything is about the biggest scoop, the biggest scandal or the biggest tragedy.
The Monticello News and Jefferson County Journal may not feature a massive crime bust, bomb threat, political squabble or world-impacting issue on every page; but you will find news about the recent fundraising fish fry, an article about a local artist or author, the accomplishments of local students or recognition for a local non-profit amongst our paper's pages.
Plenty of news happens in Jefferson County - and it's my job to find it.