A user's guide to Rockton-Roscoe News

The Rockton Herald was founded in the 1870s, but Rockton has never had a daily paper. Ever since Robert Cross staked his claim in 1835, Roscoe has gotten its news from elsewhere. That's 185 years. Then, in April 2021, Roscoe News, now Rockton-Roscoe News, published its first story online. Now we publish every day - we've become Rockton and Roscoe's first-ever daily news outlet. Most towns don't have one of those. Since 2004, the United States has lost one-fourth of its newspapers, and Illinois has lost one-third.

It's easy to subscribe to Rockton-Roscoe News to get free local news updates by email each day. You'll get a email to confirm your free subscription. You can unsubscribe at any time, but hardly anyone does.

Running a hometown newspaper is a public trust. Sometimes reading Rockton-Roscoe News is the only way to know what happened at a government meeting. We feel a responsibility to report the news fairly and objectively. But we want to know how well we're doing. And we want to know how we can do better. Whenever you have any feedback or suggestions, you can email me at editor@roscoenews.com, send a message or add a comment on Facebook or Twitter, or call me or text me at 815-408-0140.

But you have more power than that. You can publish events and posts yourself.  In one sister publication, a reader posted an entire sports story about a young athlete, complete with photo and season recap. You have that power too.

• First, set up a free, no-obligation account by clicking "Register" or on the menu in the upper right (or click here to register). All you need to enter is your name, email address and user name, which can be your email address. You'll get a confirmation email - just click on the link in the email. You can save a step if you have a Facebook, Google or Twitter account by clicking on the appropriate icon.
• Then, once you've logged in, you can click the yellow-gold Post button to add an event to our calendar or to submit a post to our community area. It could be a local alert, question or news tip, a classified ad, a lost & found, recommendations, or opinion. You can also support Rockton-Roscoe News by advertising your business or event, or by making a donation.
• Once you've registered and logged in, you can comment, like, and reply to posts and stories. The first time you submit an event or a post, you'll need to verify you're not a robot spammer by having a one-time verification code texted to your phone. Type the code into the Rockton-Roscoe News website- that settles it and you won't ever have to do it again.
• When you submit an event, you can make it a "featured event" and put it at the top of the list for only $2 a day.

Community editors have always depended on their readers for news tips. We can't be everywhere and we don't know everything. What the editor of the Rockton Herald wrote in 1908 is still true today:

Readers of The Herald and probably every other country newspaper often are disappointed in finding happenings of real interest unrecorded in its columns This state of affairs is not due to negligence or inefficiency as might sometimes appear to those most interested. The average small-town paper can boast no reporters and news gatherers. The editor is as a rule greatly pressed for time, cheerfully admitting a 12-hour day none too long. The news naturally resolves itself into a catch-as-catch-can sort of game unless those who know of "things doing" either send in their information or "tip us off." Many items of real interest never reach us until their value as news has long been gone.

In many old-time rural papers, each small community had its own scribe who reported the local news in her own column or section. The local high school had its own page where students could report on Friday night's game or the upcoming dance. Do you know someone in your neighborhood or at your school who would enjoy writing for Rockton-Roscoe News? Please ask them to contact us. We would be grateful if you would invite your friends and neighbors to subscribe, and we are very grateful to those who advertise or donate.