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76 2O24–2O2 5 GU I D E to Y E L LOW S P R I NG S ▲ For 12 years, local resident Diane Chiddister was editor of the Yellow Springs News — the independent newspaper that produced the publication you're holding. A lot of folks have worked at the Yellow Springs News over the years. Any one of those people — past or present employees — could speak to what it means to work for an organization that aims to build community by keeping that community informed. After all, it takes the whole crew — writing, editing, advertising, SMALL TOWN REPORTS By LAUREN ‘CHUCK’ SHOWS proofing, layout, circulation, accounting — to get the News into local hands every week. It’s a tough ask: The News has put together this year’s Guide to Yellow Springs to highlight the work many local residents have done to stabi- lize and strengthen the bonds of community. News writers are usually tasked with remov- ing themselves from the narra- tives of their reporting; putting the News itself into the mix is something of a new vista. But it’s usually the editor who speaks on behalf of a newspaper. In this case, the News asked former editor Diane Chiddister to weigh in on what it takes to put — and hold — a small town newspa- per together. “I want to point out that sometimes I was making a decision, but often, there were other people here involved,” Chiddister told the News in an interview last spring. “To me, that was one of the very best parts of being here — it felt like we were a very close group working together.” She added: “In editorial meetings, we were all bring - ing to it who we knew in the community, what we knew about, what we thought needed to happen — and then other people on the staff were always giving us input, too.” The News’ tradition of col - laborative decision-making in terms of what it covers from week to week is spurred in part by its business structure: In order to maintain its inde- pendence, the News must be owned by several of its own employees. “I attribute this unique structure, which is of course pretty progressive — even radical — to [former News owner] Ernest Morgan’s progressive thinking, though I have no proof,” Chiddister said. “This structure means that no one is telling us what we need to write, or how to write it, so we make those decisions ourselves.” At the same time, the News typically only covers what’s happening in the village and P H O T O : M A T T M I N D E Custom Jewelry & Repair Art & Office Supplies Unfinished Creations 243 Xenia Ave. • 937-767-7173 Precious & Semiprecious Stones