A View from the Hill…National Newspaper Week

Published 3:00 pm Wednesday, October 7, 2026

One of the “perks” of working at the Mapleton Press is being able to cover school events that other parents might not get to attend. For example, the MVAOCOU Homecoming Ram Rally. When covering an event like this, I make sure to take lots of pictures so I can share.
Unfortunately, we have limited space in the newspaper each week and I only get to choose about 12-14 pictures from ALL of the Homecoming activities to publish. Picking which pictures to print is one of the hardest parts of my job.
While I’m not a fan of how Facebook hurts small town newspapers, I DO like posting extra pictures from events like Homecoming on the Mapleton Press Facebook page so parents, family members and the community can see more of the action. I have also posted more sports albums this fall as I want to share more pictures with everyone.
I wouldn’t be able to cover school, community, and sporting events without the support of the community. We need people to subscribe to the Mapleton Press and placing ads in the Mapleton Press to keep our small town newspaper going.
Back in July, Lynn Buth from the Danbury Review also wrote an editorial about how small newspapers are facing hard time. And I completely agree. 
Times are tough for small town newspapers. The cost of printing and mailing each issue of the Mapleton Press is around $600 each week. 
On average, it cost 42 cents to mail out each copy of Mapleton Press and some weeks subscribers don’t receive their issue until almost a week late. We have apologized to subscribers so many times when they call into the office. We try to adjust when placing advertising and stories in the newspaper to make sure subscribers don’t miss out.
We tell people they can view the E-Edition of the Mapleton Press on our website. The newest issue is posted to our website (mapletonpress.com) normally by 1 p.m. on Tuesdays but people still like having hard copy to hold in their hands. 
Like Lynn, we also try our best to support the businesses and organizations that support us at the Mapleton Press by shopping at their stores, attending their fundraisers or donating a subscription/gift basket an auction. 
I also agree with Lynn that it seems like I’m never truly away from the newspaper. When not in the office, I’m checking emails on my phone or getting text messages and there is no such thing as a Monday off as deadlines still have to be met. 
We also love when readers share pictures and stories with The Mapleton Press as we can’t be everywhere. For example, the Schleswig community shared over 100 pictures from Calf Show Days when we couldn’t attend.
We love our small towns and are proud to serve the community as our events are important and everyone has a story.