ABSTRACT
In the 1800s, as the covered wagons expanded what would become the United States, the local newspaper was considered an essential institution, the heart of a community. Notes Altschull (1990):
The small-town paper was at the very center of the lives of the new settlements. Land was plentiful, and farms and ranches were far removed from the towns. Only through the pages of the newspaper could farmers and ranchers keep up with what was going on. The local newspaper became and remained a bulletin board for the community. Without the local paper there was in fact no community. (p. 214)
