Let me tell you about something magical that happened in Newton County over the last two weeks. The Covington News – your favorite community newspaper – made history, right before the watchful eyes of thousands of people. 

Starting last Monday, The Covington News live streamed a trial in the Newton County Judicial Center. That was the first time in this newspaper’s history that had happened. 

Let me take a step back for a second. The Covington News was not the only media agency to cover this case, or even live stream it for that matter. We were, however, the only newspaper to do such a thing. 

Sure, you might have seen the trial on a higher resolution feed somewhere else, but let me tell you something, being able to cover something as extensively as we did with only a fraction of the equipment available should be something that makes you proud of this newspaper. 

We are not a television station, we don’t have fancy cameras, satellite trucks, networking systems or anything like that. We are a newspaper. The staff of this newspaper, however, is doing whatever it can to make sure we are staying relevant and on top of the coverage in our community. 

It would have been easy for us to just write a story about what was going on in the trial. It would have been easy for us to snap a couple of pictures to help paint the picture. It would have been easy for us to let the larger out-of-town media agencies take all the credit, but that’s not our style. 

The Covington News is the community newspaper of choice in Newton County. If we are not doing everything in our absolute power to cover the news of Newton County then we are doing something wrong. It is not easy and that’s ok. We know our readers are going to continue to come back to us and expect the best. 

No matter what the setting, whenever I mention my professional life to a stranger, I am always faced with the question of the future of newspapers. My response is easy. Newspapers will have a future if they continue to follow their readers’ ques and stay up to date on the latest technology. 

The Covington News will not fall back to what is easy. The Covington News will continue to do whatever it can to bring you the news in the way that is most convenient to you. I hope in return you will do what you can to support your local newspaper. 

Jackie Gutknecht is the editor and publisher of The Covington News. Her email is jgutknecht@covnews.com. Twitter: @jackieg1991