A letter

from the

PUBLISHER

Still your top source for local news at 175

N

ever again will we see a Page 1

headline about the Dodgers
leading the Yankees in the World
Series when that afternoons Courier-Times went to press in 1955.
What we see, though, is The Courier-Times on the web, constantly
updated, reporting the game progress live.
Forward-looking settlers brought
forth the precursors of The CourierTimes when Indiana had been a state
for just a quarter century. Now, the
state is preparing to celebrate its bicentennial and The Courier-Times is
entering our dodransbicentennial, or
175th year.
In 1841, babies were born in New
Castle who would fight in the Civil
War 20 years in the future. Americas
Civil War president, Abraham Lincoln, was an unknown lawyer in faraway Springfield, Ill.
The Henry County Courthouse
stood then in the center of New Castle.
But what was there in 1841 was completely different than the stately Victorian structure that dominates the
downtown landscape 175 years later.
Similarly, the newspaper offices were
downtown, but were completely different, not only from the building we
occupy now but also from the technology we use in publishing today.
In 1841, most newspaper type was
set the way Ben Franklin learned to
do it a century earlier: one tiny metal
letter at a time. Most newspapers
came out of presses that printed the
front and back of single sheets of
paper, which were then folded, often
by hand.
Technology evolved and by the end
of that century, complicated machines
run by skilled operators set most of
the type, which was still made from
metal. Most newspaper pictures were
engravings or line drawings in the
early part of the 20th century. By the

1920s and 1930s, many newspapers

made use of new technology to better
reproduce photos, but that was timeconsuming and fairly expensive, so
most papers didnt have a lot of pictures in them.
By the end of the 20th century, what
had once been a massive daily undertaking had been changed hugely by
technology. Metal type and photo
engraving have been replaced by images on computer screens. Not only has
the work changed and become less
labor-intensive because of computers
and the internet, but competition has
greatly eroded the number of people
who look at a newspaper every day.
Still, forward-looking people need
information, and The Courier-Times
is the only local organization that
devotes a very significant part of its
budget and work to gathering and
distributing information, whether it is
news or advertising.
So, as always, in its 175th year, The
Courier-Times is changing. We are
going back to basics even as we look
forward and adapt how we distribute
information.
Going back to basics means a stronger emphasis on local news. In the
post-World War II era and up until
the turn of this century, The CourierTimes covered the important local
stories, but much of Page 1 and great
parts of the paper were comprised of
state, national and international news.
Now, with online media able to
broadcast the news minutes after it
happens, there is less need for us to
devote lots of space to it. Our focus is
on reporting local.
Looking to the future, we are changing the media we use to bring our
readers the message. We have a web
page www.thecouriertimes.com
and we use Facebook and Twitter. We
are constantly looking at other ways
to report the local news that our

Friday, October 16, 2015 | 175th Anniversary

page 4

reporters find.
Who can say what the future will
hold? Many of our current readers,
thankfully, want a paper product that
they can hold in their hands. Many of
the next generations, though the
people of my sons generation hardly ever look at a printed newspaper.
They get their news from their cellphones and other devices.
Forward-looking people and institutions need the news, though, and
that is the importance of having a
local news organization. We are proud
to be the primary source of reliable
information in and about New Castle,
proud that the newspaper has been
able to chronicle local history for 175
years. We realize, too, that the current
staff members are custodians of a
strong tradition. Like good custodians, we hope to provide good service
while we are here and, perhaps, leave
the organization and community
stronger for having been here.
Welcome to this book, a history of
many of the people and institutions
that helped build The Courier-Times
and the New Castle community.

The Courier-Times staff

Photo by David Burns

Current staff members of The Courier-Times are:

Front, from left, customer-service representative Hope Stevens and advertising representative Shelley Black.
Second row, from left, missed-delivery manager Tena Palmer; advertising representative Belinda Wise; advertising director Stacie
Wrightsman and managing editor Katie Clontz.
Row three, from left, publisher Bob Hansen; sports editor David Risley; Neighbors editor Donna Cronk and staff writer John Jewell.
Back row, from left, circulation director Jack Hutcheson; staff writer Kevin Green; staff writer Travis Weik; single-copy manager Andrew
Byrd and district manager Shaun Adkins. Not pictured is mailroom clerk Taylor Bowling.

~ Bob Hansen, Publisher

New Castle, Ind.

New Castle, Ind.

page 5

175th Anniversary | Friday, October 16, 2015