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I entered the fraternity in the flat period. It shouldn‘t have been flat. The Canadian economy was heaithy in the postâ€"war But if they don‘t know that he/she is working 60 hours a weék, and the paper is headed toward bankruptcy, then there‘s something wrong with the community. And if that‘s the case, it doesn‘t deserve a decent newspaper. I‘ve been the whole road. It‘s gone through a weird cycle in the twentyâ€"odd years since 1 left the business. Flat, boom. and potential bust. If the people in town don‘t say, "Well. it said in the Echo (or Times, or Free Press, or Advocate) that it‘s all the mayor‘s fault," then there‘s something wrong with the newspaper If they don‘t know the editor of their local paper, if he is a gray anonymity in the community, then there‘s something wrong with the editor They have fallen, or are falling, on harder times, due to the usual causes: inflation, high interest rates. These factors are decreasing advertising revenues and increasing costs at an alarming rate It iy my considered opinion that a (-nmm|{ni|y without a spry. lively, in telligent and sometimes irreverent news paper is lacking a vital substance of its ex istence Have just been reading a story in Canada‘s so called national newspaper about the plight of weekly newspapers, or community newspapers, as they now, rather swankiy, call themseives Second Class Mail Registration Number 5540 PAGE 8 â€" WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 1982 A Waterloo peace researcher, Ruth Klaassen, had the honor and opportunity to address the United Nations Special Session on Disarmament in New York City this past week. And as she points out, the dream of nuclear disarmament has the chance to become a reality. Not through fancy speeches and meetings, Klaassen maintains. ‘"The big swing will come when people stand up in force and say, ‘We don‘t want a nuclear holocaust.‘ " What she has to say makes sense. All she is saying, is "give peace a chance." During the 1960s when the Vietnam war was raging and nations around the world began to stockpile nuclear weapons, John Lennon of the musical group The Beatles sang these words: "All we are saying, is give peace a chance." At the time, peace marches and demonstrations were being staged around the world. But the pleas and chants of thousands of young people fell on deaf ears. Demonstrators were considered "radical hippies."" And nuclear arms continued to escalate. Today, young and old alike are joining in peace marches, calling for a worldwide nuclear disarmament. And thankâ€" fully, world leaders are beginning to listen. _ Why? Perhaps it‘s because in the crowds of demonstrators, politicians see not the faces of "radicals," but representatives from every corner of their community â€" grandparents, parents and kids. World leaders are listening to the masses more than ever before on the subject of global peace through disarmament. As Klaassen urges, it‘s up to each member of the general public to make his or her voice heard. Either through letters to political leaders or visible action, such as involvement in peaceful marches. Let‘s give peace a chance Community newspapers legistration Number 5540 established 1854 published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Kitchenerâ€"Waterioo Record Ltd., owner 225 Fairway Rd.S., Kitchener, Ont. Waterioo Chronicle othice is located on 2nd floor of the O W ‘ Sports building opposite Waterioo Square Parking on King Street or in Waterioo Square Open Monday to Friday 9 00 a m to 5 00 p m address correspondence to Waterloo office: 92 King St.South, Waterloo, Ont., telephone 886â€"2830 But newspaper editors were supposed to be dedicated, like teachers, not wealthy They were supposed to work any given amount of hours, belong to everything in town, shell out handsomely for every charity, and give free advertising from everything from a church bingeo to a Lions‘ Club carnival. (I‘m not picking on the Lions. The other service clubs were just as cheap.) euphoria, cirea 1949 But even they weren‘t as cheap as the merchants. A twelveâ€"dollar ad for a Grand New Opening was supposed to be automat ically accompanied by a front page story describing in glowing terms the 20â€" foot concrete blockaddition somebody had made to his business A half page ad. with everything . crammed in but the kitchen sink, and no wasted white space, which thok half a day to set in type, was a phenomenon. Grocery stores and five andâ€"tens ran the big ads. , two columns wide by eight inches deep Oh, boy. how the money rolled in ‘"Don‘t weep any tears for him,." you say, ‘"at five per cent interest, when I‘m paying 20.‘ But don‘t forget coffee was a dime, beer{®0 cents a draught, a hamâ€" burger 20 cents, a movie ticket 50, an With a partner, I bought into the weekly newspaper business. We didn‘t have 20 cents each, but managed to raise the down payment of five thousand by putting the heat on all our relatives and a few businessmen. The rest was a mortgage of twentyâ€"one thousand, at five per cent. Publisher Manager: Editor: Pau) Winkler Bill Karges Karla Wheeler apartment 45 dollars For the first six months, my partner and I took home 10 bucks a week, out of the till. I had a small service pension, and he lived at home. After that, we took $30 for him and $35 for me (I had a wife and kids). Our machinery was ancient (some of it run by water power, if you can believe). Our staff was loyal but underpaid â€" total wage packet was $33 a week for linotype operator, $30 a week for journeyâ€"man printer, about $20 for bookkeeperâ€"secreâ€" tary. But we put out a pretty good, lively paper. It was respected, and we were. Well, we missed the beom. New methods of printing sprang into being, cheaper and better â€"looking. Photography and a sharp pair of scissors replaced the painstaking layout of real printing. The guy with a shrewd head replaced the haphazard business methods of the gifted amateurs who mostly made up the business. Came the supermarkets, with their fullâ€"page ads, and the sudden discovery by other merchants that it did pay to advertise more than a three dollar Christ mas greetingy ad. Revenues soared. Subâ€" scription prices kept pace with inflation. Printing costs were cut. Younger publishers expanded, built up a small chain of two to five weeklies, even replaced their creaking, old, groaning buildings. They bought new equipment. They borrowed money to buy it. They got themselves deeply in debt. But never mind. The money was rolling in. God was in His Heaven. ’â€"-_-â€"" Remment S L THE GIF TS ARE FINCE BUT I wisH THOSE GUYS WOULD JUST SENOC Money SO L CoOUlD Buy SOMETHING L REALLY NE BILL SMILEY They have my sympathy. It‘s a tough game. But one chap in the article I mentioned went into bankruptcy because he had a $70,000 mortgage. That‘s chicken feed compared to the one we took on. At today‘s interest rates, ours would have been $120,000. We didn‘t go bankrupt We just carried on. Like idiots Well, the bubble has burst. The younger publishers have worked just as hard or harder. But they have finally realized that the sky is not the limit. The interest rate is. And if things were slow, they‘d sell a couple of pages of ads for National Clean Up Excrement Day, supported by a lot of small advertisers, with a pile of ex crement in the middle of the page. I used to twist arms and stamp on toes and appeal to the tiny glint of humanity in merchants to sell a two dollar ad. The Chronicle is proud of its tradition of accutacy and fair play, but we do acknowledge room for human error We welcome complaints or_ criticism of news, opinions or advertising and hope we can resolve all complaints ourselves Complaints that can‘t be resolved should be addressed to the Ontario Press Council, 151 Slater St., Suite 708, Ottawa, Ont. K1P 5H3. Press Council