Newspaper, radio and television have all been facing tough times. But here in the north country, local people rely heavily on all of the various sources to get their local news. We wonder if one source missed something, or if another source has more of the information we want. And, by all appearances they seem to be doing okay financially.
In the St. Lawrence Valley one of the most popular papers is North Country This Week. It’s a weekly that offers everything from the heavy to the humorous. Similar to that is the Tupper Lake Free Press. Another weekly that gives the detail on local “stuff”.
Other daily newspapers that are important in our area include the Plattsburgh Press Republican, the Watertown Daily Times, the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, and some will even subscribe to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today.
Magazines have some popularity in the north country, but they are very limited. Besides the news oriented magazines, the north country has Adirondack Life - a lifestyle type of magazine, and not much else.
Television seems more important during the winter months as things get dark at around 4pm, and a lot of folks are ready for bed by 9. Some of our TV stations include WPTZ in Plattsburgh, WWNY in Watertown, News 10 Now, and local PBS stations WCFE and WPBS.
Radio is tough in the north country, simply because of the demographics. With the hills, it’s easy to lose a signal and always at a very important moment. Radio stations include WNBZ - part of Mountain Communications, WPDM, 101.5 the FOX, NCPR - a public radio station, and a variety of others. We have seen a number of north country folks going to satellite radio - Sirius and XM - which allows more content and a signal that will go the distance.
When it comes to news and entertainment, the north country needs their newspapers, radio, and TV just to keep the chatter lively around town.
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