A suggestion was submitted to the Cassville Democrat email the other day from a person in the community: “Have you ever thought of changing your name? I would think that your circulation would increase. I would love to subscribe but could not stand to have anything called Democrat in my house. I would certainly subscribe to the Cassville Gazette. There must be others like me.”

We’ve heard iterations of this many times over the years, especially from wives or mothers coming in to subscribe on behalf of their husbands or children. “My [insert family member] loves your paper, but they wouldn’t be caught dead with anything that says ‘Democrat’ coming to their mailbox, worried what the neighbors might think,” they say.

In a county where four out of five voters favored the current administration in the last three presidential elections, nobody is more aware than we are about the irony of carrying the minority political party’s namesake.

From our perspective as a small-town paper — with a coverage area in Barry County stretching only from the Arkansas state line to Purdy — national politics are not our bag. Our goal is to focus on hyperlocal stories and features, highlighting the best in our community and holding up a mirror to the good, bad and ugly of life in our slice of the Ozarks.

Sometimes, a local news story also carries the weight of a national issue. That was the case last week with Sheila Harris’ story on an ICE arrest in Monett and exploring the policies of the Sheriff’s Office and Cassville Police Department when it comes to illegal immigrants.

As we tend to do with heavier pieces, Harris also wrote an accompanying opinion article (and a follow-up opinion piece this week), to provide context and a springboard for community conversation on the topic.

As a printed publication, we encourage readers to make that conversation play out with our pages — the mirror to the community. Alas, in the digital age, we compete with social media as conversation host, and social media always wins.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the post of Harris’ opinion article on Facebook had reached 3,500 people and been viewed more than 7,800 times, with 85% of that figure being followers of our page. That 2.23 views per user can be credited to one major thing — the nearly 100 comments from nearly entirely local residents debating the topic of illegal immigration.

Some took offense to Harris’ pointed article, others applauded it. Multiple comment threads saw people engaging each other directly, some more successfully than others. One comment in opposition to Harris’ piece received 26 likes, possibly the most ever for a single comment on our page.

As I watched the comments flood in, only one thought was on my mind — how can we extend this conversation past a single Friday afternoon post on Facebook to a thought-provoking exchange of ideas via the printed edition. I posted a comment calling for those sharing opinions to send them to us for print, which can be done using a Google form I have set up online; all a person would have to do is essentially copy and paste. I received one from that avenue that is in print this week. Another individual emailed a letter, also in print this week, the day the paper came out.

With the conversation largely online, I considered quoting comments in my column here, as the post is public and all comments are public. However, that idea ran aground with the ethical challenge of doing so without permission. Could I? Yes. Is it fair? Arguably not.

As a result, the conversation and comments will fall off of our feeds and out of our thoughts without us even realizing it. Whatever your opinion on it, it’s an important conversation to have — and can give us a sense of pride in commonality of thought on either side.

As humans, we crave to be understood. It’s a good feeling to know others have your back, whether you’re getting push back from an opposing viewpoint or pushing against something with which you do not agree.

It’s easy on Facebook to spray a keyboard with instictive thoughts or unchecked emotion from the comfort of the couch with no in-person opposition. Print, however, is perpetual — recorded in the public record for decades and centuries to come, unable to be edited or deleted.

Most people are afraid of that, proven by the number of anonymous letters I receive versus signed ones. Everyone has an opinion, yet a fraction actually have the gumption to stand on it in print.

I applaud Sheila for putting her opinion out there, knowing very well there would be a heavy throated opposition.

I also applaud Kathy Casey and Mary Paddock for their letter submissions and the courage it may have taken to send them. I’m proud to give them that space on our commentary page.

We continue to engage with more readers week after week, including the one who suggested we change our name. In my response to that email, I stated, in part, “Given that our paper is the second-oldest continuous publication in the state of Missouri with no name change, we do not intend to allow partisanship to force our hand.”

Imagine my surprise a few days later to receive an email back saying, “Your gracious email has taught an old dog new tricks. I want to subscribed to the Cassville Democrat! Please tell me how.”

That interaction in the midst of the immigration debate online reminded me of the most important thing as a publisher, resident and American — we are all in this together.

Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a three-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847-2610 or ktroutman@cassville- democrat.com.