For this, the 300th issue of The Commons, we wanted to shine the spotlight on community journalism - and especially its future. Our staff and a number of other media professionals with ties to the Windham County region reflect on these issues and help us celebrate a milestone.
• When business principles are turned upside down: The small newspapers I worked for were founded not to make money but to fill a need - and the bond they had with their readers was amazing. By Jeff Potter.
• Refugee from a corporate news career: We would have to do more and more with less and less, with no possibility of improvement. No newspaper ever got better by giving its readers less. No newspaper ever cut its way to prosperity. By Randolph T. Holhut.
• The less-traveled new world of journalism: As long as this world exists, there will always be news. Life doesn't stop happening when a newspaper stops printing. By Kia Bailey-de Brujin.
• Writing close to home: 'I've learned the craft of journalism while living in a place I know more intimately than anywhere else.' By Evan Johnson.
• Local media voices: Challenges for future coverage, the abundance of media in the area, and a few congratulations from Dan DeWalt, Kate Casa, Chris Lenois, Lise LePage, and Martin Langeveld.