Community journalism is alive and well.

It is alive and well in Queens where the Queens Tribune has been the dominant paper for the past 36 years.

Community journalism flourishes today, all over this nation. Deeply rooted in the First Amendment principles established by our founding fathers more than three centuries ago, the legacy of the town crier, the reporter, the editor has been consistent and true throughout the American evolution. Information has been the food of a knowledge-hungry society and the community newspapers have fed the people.

The task is the same no matter where the skilled journalist plies his trade: be inquisitive, be honest and be loyal to the truth and your reader. Advocate for the community, and tell it like it is. Ask and learn. Share the knowledge.

THE LONG ISLANDER
The year is 1838. There are no telephones, no electric lights, no automobiles. There is manpower, and there is horsepower.

Walt Whitman is a journeyman printer whose addiction to the written word is only equaled by his passion for people. Whitman put the two together when, at age 19, he established a newspaper in the town of Huntington. He gathered the news, put it in words, set the type and, from behind the blacksmith’s shop, he pulled each impression of The Long-Islander by hand. And when it was done, he hitched a wooden wagon to his horse Nina, and peddled his paper along a route from Huntington to the south shores of present-day Babylon, gathering news for his next edition along the way.

Whitman’s greatest fame would come later in his life when he published Leaves of Grass, establishing himself as America’s premier poet. Although no editions of the newspaper with his name as publisher survive, its existence is verified through citations in contemporary newspapers, including the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, which he wrote for later in his career. Whitman also recalled in his memoirs his “first real venture” publishing a newspaper in his “own beloved town of Huntington.”

As short as Whitman’s involvement was, the newspaper itself lived on. In 1839 it was published by Oliver O.
Crowell, and it hasn’t missed a beat since. For 168 years, The Long-Islander has been both the ears and the voice of the community. In its archives can be found editions that announce the death of John Hancock, the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the horrors of the Johnstown Flood.

Its editors kept the community informed through the Great Depression, two World Wars, Korea and Vietnam. They weighed in with strong opinions on the important subjects of the day – the right of women to vote, Prohibition, the repeal of Prohibition, and the nation’s involvement in conflicts overseas – all with an eye toward how issues affected readers in its own backyard. Perhaps more importantly, the paper has carried in its pages the countless thousands of birth announcements, engagement notices, obituaries, and stories of local interest that make a newspaper so vital to the community it serves.

The Long-Islander established itself as the voice of the community in the early 19th century and has always remained Huntington’s premier newspaper.

MODERN-DAY GROWTH
When it was acquired in the 1970s by Long Island Community Newspapers, it was the flagship of the eight-paper chain. And Karl Anton, who bought the publishing company in 1984, and through acquisitions expanded its reach, made sure that The Long-Islander remained a jewel in Long Island’s publishing crown.

While expanding the company to a multi-title chain, the newspaper saw growth through the introduction of a schedule of special sections, including the newspaper’s largest ever – a 150th Anniversary Commemorative that maxed out the presses.

In the 1980s, the group saw the acquisition of the Port Jefferson-based Record Newspapers and the establishment of its Legal Publishing division, which today publishes for attorneys in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn.

In 1994, The Long-Islander returned to its roots when Long Islander Newspapers – comprised of the company’s Suffolk County-based newspapers and its Legal Publishing division – were spun off as a separate company. Recognizing its place as a source of community news, the company further localized its coverage with a fourth title -- The Long Islander’s Half Hollow Hills Newspaper -- complementing the Long Islander, the Record and the 1874-founded Northport Journal which chronicles the area’s art and history.

The company’s four community titles provide localized coverage of the entire Town of Huntington – the westernmost town on Suffolk’s upscale north shore — while the legal publishing division continues to produce titles for the Brooklyn, Queens and Suffolk County Bar Associations, and reaches the Nassau County legal profession with its Attorney of Nassau County.

Just as technology has changed the way newspapers are produced, the information explosion made possible by the internet has changed the way consumers get their news. In response, Long Islander Newspapers brought its award-winning Web site further up to date with a comprehensive makeover that includes a lively new look, interactive features, even short film clips, and, of course, advertising.