Last week was National Newspaper Week, when we celebrate the significance of the newspaper and its place in our communities.

Whether you rely on the newspaper to bring you the current events each day, the latest about your favorite sports teams, an exhaustive list of entertainment possibilities or the many ads and coupons found in each issue, it is a part of our lives.

Many of our parents have the clippings that appeared in the local paper announcing our births, baptisms, graduations and marriages.

All the important parts of our lives — including the solemn task of letting friends and neighbors know when our journeys have ended — can be found in the pages of the local newspaper.

The significance goes far beyond the sentimental, though.

Newspapers — particularly those in our local communities — serve as watchdogs, alerting the public to the events and developments in government and how their lives might be affected.

They also deliver timely investigative journalism, the kind of work that would simply go undone if it weren’t for the local papers.

The newspaper is more than a daily habit. It is part of the community that strengthens and improves the community.

— Thibodaux Daily Comet, Louisiana, Oct. 5

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