By Al Cross, Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues

When the only local newspaper also served as the only local job printer, many people would refer to them as "the printing office." Job printing went elsewhere long ago, and few papers do their own printing. Now many of them don't even have offices.

Publishers were already selling their real estate, their greatest hard asset, and moving to smaller quarters. Then the pandemic hit, forcing most news work to be done remotely, and that seems to have made more publishers question the basic idea of a newsroom.

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Community newspapers got some sorely needed good news when the Postal Service filed its 2021 rate case Oct. 9. 
The new rates are effective Jan. 24, 2021.
Newspapers were truly winners, thanks in part to policies long promoted by NNA that reward best practices in sortation and entry point.

It’s hard to believe it is already the final quarter of 2020. This is the time of year that most of us start thinking about the coming year, and what is in store. 
For Texas newspapers the new year means it’s time for the biennial session of the Texas Legislature, and that means we need to prepare for action.
No matter which party is in control of the House in January, there will be some influx of new members in that body, and in the Senate. 

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