When we tout the importance of the community newspaper, we often talk about all the things we do to help the community.
Like reporting on governmental meetings, covering community events, reporting on court proceedings, writing about school activities or sporting events.
Those are all important.
And it is important that we bring you all the legal notices that the public needs to know. This helps to provide a check on how your tax dollars are spent.
But there is a different purpose that we don’t always talk about.
The Pioneer News is the paper of record for Bullitt County.
So what does that mean?
On one hand, that is the reason public notices must be published each Thursday. The Pioneer News is the legal newspaper of the county.
But there is a broader aspect of being the paper of record.
We record what happens in our county every Thursday.
We’re not sure you can find copies all the way back to our inception in 1882. However, dating back for years, you can trace back important events that have happened in Bullitt County.
The Bullitt County Library System has back issues on microfilm.
Groups like newspapers.com have archived newspapers.
Soon, the bound issues of The Pioneer News dating back to the early 1980s will be on display at the Bullitt County History Museum in the courthouse.
In glancing back at old copies, there was a time when some newspapers had birth announcements and obituaries on the front page.
One thing missing in recent years from our newspapers have been the social items. The baby announcements. The engagements and the weddings. The obituaries. The school honors.
But if these items are included in the newspaper who will future generations know about the descendants?
How will historians like Charles Hartley, who presents a wonderful look back each month with hundreds and hundreds of names of individuals who made the pages of The Pioneer News, do what they do best?
Blame it on social media. Blame it on a society which isn’t as likely to take the time and energy to fill out a form to submit to their local newspaper. Blame it on us as an industry for not promoting the free service that is available.
The bottom line is that the fabric of the community newspaper -- as the paper of record -- depends on a wide variety of information to properly document the history of our county.
We have to do a better job of letting you know that your information is important to the preservation of the history of our community.
We have forms on our website to submit your items.
For us old-timers the easiest way is to send me an email with the information, including pictures, of your special events.
And, there is still the old fashion way of bringing it to our new office, located at 200 South Buckman on the Frank E. Simon Avenue side of the Professional Building.
But call me at 502-477-5055 to make sure I’m in the office.
Did we say this information is FREE?
Well, it is.
The days of the community writers like Ms. Simmons and Ms. Ridgway are over but those who are a little older will remember the weekly recaps on who visited who.
Mr. Hartley does a good job of recalling some of those moments in his monthly column.
The Pioneer News, like other newspapers, has a process of preserving the past while reporting on the present.
Newspapers throughout this country are the way to preserve this history. Social media can’t.
We have a way that you can go back and look at your family’s past. Others don’t.
One major change that really affects the recording of past is the publications of obituaries. Genealogists are very dependent on newspapers as a source of family research.
Over the years, less obituaries are published in the newspaper. As a defense for the newspapers, we only print what is supplied by funeral directors and they are guided by the families on whether to publish them.
We know that people miss seeing obituaries in the local newspaper. Yes, there is a nominal fee for basic obituaries but they are also published online the day of submission.
We doubt that many will search out funeral home websites each day for local obituaries.
Families need to advise their funeral directors that they would like the obits to be included in the newspaper.
The Pioneer News is the voice of Bullitt County. It is the newspaper of record and has been since 1882.
We are proud to serve the community. And would love to have more items from the community as each week we publish another issue that will go down forever in history.
Be a part of the community. Make sure your family’s place in the history of Bullitt County is preserved.
Publish it in the newspaper of record.