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Over 2,000 local newspapers have closed in the past 15 years, and that’s just in the USA. These closures started with the advent of the internet, of course, and has accelerated during this recession.

We’ve been thinking about how important our newspapers are to our democracy, the majority of them, at least.

Where would our communities, like Stanly County, be without knowing what is going on in our local government and in our communities?

We depend on the journalists to research their stories and get us, the public, the facts, the truth, so that we can make decisions about all kinds of things.

In this time of COVID, it is more important than ever that we get the truth from the scientists, and separate out the conspiracy stories so that we can best protect ourselves and our communities.

While we don’t always agree with the opinion pieces and the letters to the editors, for instance, we do count on facts and truth in the reporting of the news and stories.

We can count on our Stanly News & Press, and therefore, we encourage all who can afford it to subscribe to SNAP to help support our local paper and keep it in business — for us and for our democracy.

Ron and Nancy Bryant
Norwood