In the newspaper business we spend a lot of time writing aboutthe world around us, informing our readers about this and that,reminding them of the importance of things.

Besides our regular news coverage, we do special sections onlocal events, such as the renovations of Brookhaven High School, orspecial coverage of ribbon cuttings, like the one at the libraryThursday. Each year we produce our FOCUS edition to tell about thegood things happening in the area.

We do a pretty good job, as evident by the success of thesections or special coverage. Our readers seem to like it, ouradvertisers continue to purchase advertising space, and ournewspaper peers have lauded us with many awards over the years.

While we are pretty good at telling the story of those aroundus, historically, as an industry, we in the newspaper business arepretty bad at telling our own story. Most editors and publishers donot like to toot their own horn, believing the quality of thenewspaper produced speaks for itself.

This week happens to be National Newspaper Week. Like everyother week of the year that salutes some industry or event, wenewspapers have one of our own. So if you will indulge me for a fewminutes, I am going to toot the DAILY LEADER horn a bit.

In this day of mergers and mega-mergers, this newspaper standsas a rare breed in the business. We are one of only 250independently-owned daily newspapers in the nation. We are one ofonly six in Mississippi, and the only one in South Mississippi. Afew years ago the number was around 500, which shows a disturbingtrend. It means the control of the nation’s press is quicklyconcentrating into the hands of corporate America. Our goal is tocontinue to remain among the independents — with your continuedsupport we will do just that.

As the LEADER approaches its 120th birthday next year, it mightbe interesting to point out that those 120 years mean this companyis among the oldest in the area. Only T.H. Perkins Furniture andPerkins Hardware are older, but we will lay claim to the oldestmanufacturing facility. Yes, we are a manufacturer in that we takea raw product — newsprint — and turn it into a consumerproduct.

With our employment currently at 47 individuals, includinganother 27 independent contractors who deliver the newspaper toyour door, we have an economic impact in this area of over $7million. We are the 10th largest manufacturing employer in LincolnCounty.

Of course the days of setting type by hand and printing onsheet-fed press are long gone. Today we are fully computerized withhigh-speed presses that can print a top quality product in fullcolor. In fact, over the last three years our peers have chosen usas having the best printing quality of any newspaper in thestate.

Two years ago we moved into the next generation of newspaperingwith our Internet edition — www.dailyleader.com. Over 70,000 hitsare received on our website each month from readers not only herelocally, but also from across the country.

Based on our independently audited distribution records, anaverage of 18,250 of you see us each day as we deliver a paidsubscription to 7,300 homes, businesses and offices six days aweek. Our sister publication, the Southwest Mississippi ShoppingBag, reaches another 20,300 homes of non-subscribers in afour-county area every Wednesday.

We have come a long way in our 120 years from those days ofhandset type and sheet fed presses, but our mission has neverchanged — to serve our community, our advertisers and mostimportantly, you, our readers.