Connecting Stories that Matter


As you speed down Interstate 55, you might just miss McComb, Mississippi. For many — well, for most — it is just another dot on the map somewhere between Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana. Once a city boasting a colorful downtown, and even more colorful residents, it has now become another victim of brain drain in small town, U.S.A.

Driving through the downtown, you see shuttered businesses, broken sidewalks and even a partially burned building no one has ever bothered to fix. It is a depressing caricature of what we have allowed our American small towns to become. And ever since the big box stores came to town, everything has moved toward the interstate — ready to snag the next person willing to take exit 18 on I-55. 

McComb, Miss. once was a hub for rail maintenance. Now, trains still pass through, but the once vibrant downtown and rail yards are tired and worn. [Image Credit: Lacy Nelson]

Every few months, the local community sees another family-owned local business close its doors. One day it’s a local eatery, the next a home appliance store and the list drags on and on. It almost seems as if nothing can last — and honestly, not much does. 

A storefront in the Kramertown district of McComb, Miss. [Image credit: Lacy Nelson]

There is one local business, though, that has defied the odds — the McComb newspaper, the Enterprise Journal.

Jack Ryan is the managing editor of the Enterprise Journal. He has been in McComb for over thirty years. A native of New Orleans, he left the Big Easy to attend college at Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. After graduation, much to the dismay of his parents, he moved to McComb to write for the Enterprise Journal — founded by Oliver Emmerich when he bought and merged the McComb Enterprise with another local paper in the 1920s.

Ryan never left. 

Despite McComb’s small size, Ryan has a big job. The citizens of McComb rely on Ryan and his staff for the most up to date coverage of what is happening in their community. For some, the most important coverage might be high school sports or business updates, while others might subscribe to have access to the obituaries — which Ryan notes are one of the most important and personal parts of the Enterprise Journal’s role in the community. 

Laketto Carr, a resident of McComb since 1988, admits she and her husband no longer subscribe to the Enterprise Journal, but when they did, it was because they were most interested in the coverage of high school sports and other local news they were not able to get from larger outlets such as the Clarion Ledgerin Jackson. Now, she gets most of her news via social media or word of mouth. 

Laketto Carr stands outside McComb Electric Supply Company on a bright day in McComb, Miss. [Image Credit: Lacy Nelson]

While on the surface it might not seem like much of a problem, relying on social media for news can contribute to the further spread of misinformation and disinformation. Local journalists serve as the eyes and ears of our towns — ready to stop false information in its tracks and serve as watchdogs. But if more and more people continue to follow the trends Carr does, then it will become imperative for local news outlets to figure out solutions to not only meet their readers where they are, but also keep the integrity of their paper and profession. 

However, there are still plenty of people in the McComb and Pike County community who engage with the Enterprise Journal. Michael Guttuso, a local chef, has lived in the area for 40 years and says the paper has always been a great source of information — and one he still relies on. 

“I think that people have learned to rely on Jack and his paper as something they can depend on, even though they may have reduced readership,” says Guttuso. “I think the continuity has always been there. In fact, the paper today is still an Emmerich paper and I think their standards were always so high. I remember Oliver Emmerich, on the newspaper heading, had something along the lines of ‘McComb is the most important place in the world to us.’ People knew the great amount of care that went into reporting and making sure that news was disseminated.”

Guttuso was not far off — today, the Enterprise Journal still prides itself as being “the one newspaper in the world most interested in this community.”

What is fascinating about the Enterprise Journal’s story, though, is it is replicated all across the United States — and not just in small towns. No matter where you go —from the deep South to New England to the west coast — you will see outlets seeking new means to engage readers and keep a thumb on the pulse of their community. 

Over 1,000 miles away from McComb is the nation’s capital — Washington, D.C. With almost 700,000 people living in just under 70 square miles, it seems a city packed to the rim would have little to nothing in common with a small town in the South boasting just 13,000 residents. 

But you would be wrong. 

While McComb might not lay claim to the Capitol, multi-million-dollar lobbying firms or even a university, it does have the Enterprise Journal. Washington, D.C. has its own version of a local newspaper — and no, this is not a reference to the Washington Post. It is PoPville, an online blog turned catch-all for anything and everything related to local happenings inside the District. 

PoPville was started in 2006 by Dan Silverman, a local D.C. resident who wanted to chronicle life in District neighborhoods with an emphasis on street-by-street coverage. Using the alias Prince of Petworth (PoP) and a healthy heaping of citizen journalism, Silverman quickly became the ultimate D.C. neighborhood source. Today, folks across the District rely on PoPville to provide coverage on transit, crime, restaurants, real estate — well, you name it. 

A snowy neighborhood in the Adams Morgan neighborhood in northwest Washington, D.C. [Image Credit: Lacy Nelson]

So, in reality, there might be more connecting our small town, U.S.A. communities and cities like Washington, D.C. than what meets the eye. 

There is hope for our local papers. Local news is not necessarily dying — it is changing. As we shift toward an increasingly digital landscape, it is imperative outlets and journalists are willing to meet readers where they are. Maybe this means having a formal presence on social media, creating a more user-friendly website or blog, or even coming up with new and engaging ideas to draw people to your outlet like Ryan did with the Enterprise Journal’s “cutest pet” and “first day of school” photo contests.

Regardless of where we are, change is a constant in our lives. As stewards of our communities, we need to foster change and be willing to adapt, as well as recognize changes do not come without hurdles. But we can overcome these hurdles with sparks of creativity — a willingness to leap outside of the box of what constitutes as “traditional journalism.”

When we lose our local papers, we start to lose sight of ourselves. The accountability our local journalists provide help guide us toward the north star of ethical and moral living. Without local news, who would we turn to for coverage on the latest city hall meeting, or who would be there to investigate inconsistencies in the school district’s budget? 

So, no longer is it just about who won the homecoming football game, what new restaurant opened or where the latest real estate development is going in — though those things are important. It is imperative we recognize the role local journalism plays in keeping American communities afloat and free of corruption. 


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