This week is National Newspaper Week, a cause near and dear to our hearts here at The Daily News. This is the 74th year of the celebration of the oldest form of mass communication, and this year’s theme is “Newspapers: The Foundation of Vibrant Communities.” And although there is much out there that says otherwise, we who work in the industry know that newspapers will be around for a long time to come.

There are several reasons for this, but first and foremost is the permanency of the printed page. This is one of the reasons newspaper advertising is so effective. Seeing an ad on the printed page — an ad you cannot skip over or scroll away from — especially on a regular basis, creates a sort of imprint in people’s minds, and the next time they need the service advertised, they are likely to seek them out from the company whose advertisement they saw.

What’s more, companies that advertise in small, community newspapers like The Daily News are more likely to be local businesses that conduct business in a professional manner. Unlike the situation a faceless websites, we know we will be held accountable for the content of what we print, so newspapers are unlikely to accept advertising from disreputable people or businesses. It is in our best interest to serve the reader, right down to the products and services touted in our pages.

Of course, the printed page is about much more than advertising. It is about, as much as anything else, creating a shared sense of community and history. The Daily News is where the community turns for keepsakes of little Billy’s first baseball game or the engagement of Tom and Sue because the newspaper provides something more lasting and more tangible than any online substitute ever could.

And that is, when all the pomp and politics is stripped away, really what a community is all about — the people who live there. The true value of a community newspaper is the power it has to unite communities, with sentences that begin, “Hey, did you see that story in The Daily News?”