Congratulations on filling a vital community need

Congratulations to Mark Weber and all the fine people who have brought the new Eden Prairie News to life.  

Newspapers are vital to the life of the community and the loss of the print version was hard to accept. Every EP resident should be thankful for the work of these enterprising volunteers.  

Thomas Jefferson was right when he wrote to fellow Virginian Edward Carrington, “Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate for a moment to prefer the latter.” 

I spent more than 20 years in journalism including time at the Associated Press in Washington.  Over the years I saw afternoon newspapers fade away, the end of some famous, venerable morning papers, and the collapse of far too many weeklies and community prints to count.

There must always be a place for a newspaper, electronic or “on wood,” in our communities.  Wishing you all success with this important endeavor.

Jack Sheehan

Eden Prairie

[Editor’s note: Mark Weber serves as a volunteer contributor and trusted advisor to the Eden Prairie Local News (EPLN) journalism group.]