We are you. We are your local paper

Most days I get a cup of coffee in either Tiffin, Findlay or Fostoria. My family loves supporting local restaurants and stores, although takeout has been a bigger part of our routine in the past few months. We visit all of the parks in the area, and participate in local sports, arts and educational programs. When something breaks at our home, I call someone local. Before the pandemic, I tried to go to athletic contests at many of our local high schools and colleges, and my kids attend public school locally. My wife is a public school teacher.We have hit up every ice cream stand in Northwest Ohio, I think.I am one of you.We all are — the many employees who work at The Courier, The Advertiser-Tribune and Review Times. We live among you, shop among you and recreate among you. Our kids go to the same schools as your children and grandchildren. We care about our communities. We share all of your concerns during this challenging era.The biggest criticism I get is that our papers are "not locally owned and operated any more" or that "the changes you have made have hurt the paper."Yes, things have changed, especially in Findlay and Fostoria, where the Heminger family proudly navigated our wonderful papers through generations.However, there is no doubt this is a struggling industry, and an ownership change took place.The way I see it, we have gone from one family-owned company to another. Ogden Newspapers is another deep-rooted, generational newspaper owner. They are owned by a family who cares deeply about local journalism, and who was in position to help The Courier and Review Times unearth their way through financial challenges.In fact, the Nutting family, who owns Ogden, is part of my family's heritage. My parents met in the newsroom of the Wheeling Intelligencer, Ogden's flagship paper. My dad later became publisher of The Alpena News in Michigan, and I remember as a kid the company's current owners taking an interest in me, even shooting hoops with me in my driveway.When I came down to Northwest Ohio after years of working for other companies, it was a return to my roots. I had worked for a company 10 times the size of Ogden. Now I was going to work for a family company whom has been a part of my life since before I was born.The reason I say all of this is simple — our papers are not owned and operated by some robot machine far off in a high rise. It is owned by a company who owns a number of papers, but not enough where I don't know people at each by name. And it is operated locally — by me and by other managers who own homes in and are deeply invested in our region.Yes, we have seen radical change in all of our papers — much has been forced upon us through the pandemic. And yes, being part of a larger group means more people have input on decision-making than ever before. But the moves we are making are done in order to stabilize the present to create a long-term future.And we aren't afraid to pivot on moves that don't work, and we are continuing to tweak our news content to meet the needs and desires of our subscribers. Every day we look at each of our papers and think of ways to make them better. There are an increasing number of places in our world that have become "news deserts." And we proudly are not one of them, and will not be them.I apologize for the change but please know that it is like a construction zone. We are paving the potholes so that there is a smoother roadway in the end. Sometimes this means we might have to put on a different coat than we originally thought, but we are constantly monitoring our project.Please have patience with us and our staff. We are all trying our hardest.And realize that we are out there, among you, trying to balance work and life, and trying to make our business and papers as good as they can be amid modern challenges.I am you. We are you. We are your local paper. Jeremy Speer is the publisher of The Courier in Findlay, The Advertiser-Tribune in Tiffin and the Review Times in Fostoria. He can be reached at jeremyspeer@thecourier.com or jspeer@advertiser-tribune.com.