James Smith, Editor Speaks at the Kiwanis Club Meeting

The Editor of Both The New Britain Herald and The Bristol Press, James H. Smith made an outstanding presentation for the Kiwanis club of Newington, held at the Paradise Restaurant on East Street. The main focus of the even was a discussion of the reporter’s bible; The United States First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
He pointed out that this amendment speaks of the freedom of the press, and that the Congress shall make no law regarding the rights of religion, freedom of speech, He stressed that as citizens we have the right to peaceably assemble, and last but not least he reminded us that the first amendment allows our citizens to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
He expressed that he as an editor believes in a paper that carries both views: the liberal and the conservative. I personally have been noticing those changes taking place in the recent edition of the New Britain Herald and the Bristol Press as well.
He showed his human side that printer’s ink flows in his veins by pointing out that his father was a typesetter, setting each letter for the story to become part of the lead plate casting for the printing of each page of the paper. That system was replaced with the advent of the computer in 1975.
Another human interest side of his story was his describing when his four year old grandson sat on his lap by the computer asking to see his name typed out and immediately asked to see a print copy. He went on pointing out the young children want to see the printed copy of the newspaper but the students of today would much rather read the paper on line and not feel excitement of feeling their way from page to page and be surprised in reading the next story that awaits them.
Members of the Kiwanis expressed concern that the lack of advertising in the papers is hurting the industry. Mr. Smith pointed out that the advertising manager was not present but he would attempt to address this concern. He simply stated that companies like G. Fox , and Wise & Smith department stores are no longer big spenders for advertising their wares.
He did discuss the reporters need to keep their stories 650 words or less due to the spacing allowable in a column of the paper.
I am happy to point out that this report is only 419 words, so hopefully I will receive a passing grade!