The Newspapers of Eldersburg
Too much of the same - July 20, 2006

Unless you are like the resident on Brangles Road who has a “No Free Papers” sign posted on the front lawn, you probably receive three local weekly newspapers every week. For the past several years, The Eldersburg Eagle, The Gazette, and The Advocate of Eldersburg and Sykesville have all been competitors in our area. One would think that in Eldersburg, a small rural town in Carroll County, one local newspaper would be perfectly fine. Even two would be acceptable, but three?

Being informed is a good thing, but there are three things very wrong with this particular situation. First, it’s simply too much saturation for such a small market. This wouldn’t be so terrible except (second), it’s all too much of the same content, and (third), there are hardly any opposing perspectives accounted for.

Too Much Saturation
How saturated, you ask? If the 2000 census of 9,138 Eldersburg households were to take their three weekly newspapers, the Eagle, Advocate, and Gazette, and lay their respective average of nine, seven and eighteen sheets of news end to end, it would form a distance of 115.3 miles – about the distance from Baltimore to Philadelphia. Over a year, that distance would stretch from Eldersburg to Tokyo, Japan.

We barely have enough news in Eldersburg for three newspapers, yet there's enough newspaper to cover half the world. And that’s just the 2000 census. The newspapers now reach over 15,000 households in the area. Work that math out.

Too Much of the Same
The three Eldersburg weeklies hit the newsstands (or driveways) three consecutive days in the week, giving readers only enough time to browse through them before tossing them in with the other recyclables. With such similar formats, it’s difficult to keep track of which newspaper is which.

The Eagle has a set style, format, and personality that sets itself apart from the other two, not to mention it’s the only newspaper that is solely for the Eldersburg/Sykesville/Marriottsville area. Dave Greenwalt started it back in 2002 and it has grown considerably since then. Patuxent Publishing took over in 2004 and Jim Joyner is now the editor.

The Advocate is a publication of the Carroll County Times and is one of many sub-papers around the county. The Gazette is much the same way as a sub-division of The Washington Post, but it has its home in Mt. Airy and it has more classified ads in it than anything else. The Gazette is familiar to out-of-towners and seems to be more favorable among newer citizens of Eldersburg.

Still, nothing really distinguishes any one newspaper from another. Jim Joyner from the Eagle disagreed, saying, “I think they’re all differentiated to some degree … We’re all going after the same core audience, which is families, homeowners, kids in schools, and the older generation.” Majority rule. In this way, the newspapers keep Eldersburg as the quiet, wholesome town.

The same 10-20 people are usually participating and offering up their ideas to the papers. “You invite everybody to participate, but you find only that core participates,” Joyner said. “It reinforces itself.” It only makes sense that a newspaper would cater to the majority. What does that leave for any minority, such as younger singles and couples, renters, and the counter-culture?

Too Little of Everything Else
Eldersburg’s not really the hip, happening town that needs three different newspapers to sufficiently report all the events happening in the town, yet some still don’t get covered. It seems that the stories that don’t fit into the “family friendly” focus fall through the cracks and out of the public’s eye. For example, police reports of vandalism are buried somewhere four pages inside while the cover story is about a library story time. While the photography may be beautiful, it shouldn’t be front page news.

There’s also an obvious taboo within the newspapers regarding sex, drugs, and violence. What happened to the controversy about having a Gay-Straight Alliance at our high schools? The drug ring bust this time last year? The increasing number of accidents happening all over town? These things don’t happen often, but when they do, the media should be all over it, shouldn’t they?

In a town where there are three newspapers with the same viewpoint, shouldn’t one break away and encourage other perspectives or feature different aspects of our increasingly diverse community?

The newspapers are good to our town; they make sure everyone who wants one gets one, they include the stories we send, and they write pleasant features about what happened in the previous week. Regardless, there ain’t enough room in this town for the three of them, at least not for citizens of Eldersburg.

Individually, the Gazette, Eagle, and Advocate are excellent community papers, but together, they are excessive for the residents who receive them. There’s no clear answer on what should be done, but something needs to change, either by the papers or the people. With more and more “No Free Papers” signs popping up along the roads every week, don’t be too surprised if that turns into the latest lawn trend.

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