Editor’s Note: Adam Smeltz returns to State College today in a familiar role in a new venue. As senior editor and news reporter, Adam will have a weekly column on Monday mornings. My columns will appear every other Wednesday morning. Click here to read more about Adam’s return. -Terry Casey
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Even today, some three years since Graham’s Newsstand in downtown State College closed down, I can’t walk past its old storefront without mourning. I used to find the world there at 124 S. Allen St. In a sense, the place also helped me to find myself.
As a teen growing up in town, I was all too happy to empty my wallet at Graham’s — sometimes for the ice cream, sold by the scoop, but more often for the journalism. I discovered the deliciously salacious New York Post, far more racy than anything I could find on the coffee table at home. Political journals brought nuanced arguments from the ideological extremes, travel magazines carried me to faraway cultures, and the motor-head monthlies taught me to love the raw mechanical beauty of the automobile. I buried myself in the local pages of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the international section of The New York Times and the White House coverage in The Washington Post.
Nearly as much as I loved exploring the titles and their contents, I delighted in observing the other customers, what captured their attention, what moved them enough to sit down and read for a while, to discuss and debate with their friends. Graham’s was equal parts social hub, intellectual den and ice-cream nirvana — a rich portrait of our eclectic town. I fell in love with it. All of it. Even went on to become a newspaper reporter — first in State College, primarily, and later in the fragrant state of New Jersey.
Now, on this late-March morning, it is a tremendous honor to return to State College as senior editor and news reporter at StateCollege.com.
Graham’s is gone, of course, replaced these days by a popular pretzel franchise. Many of the publications that once filled its walls and drew its customers are shrinking, if not collapsing, thanks to the pressure brought by changing business models and more efficient ways of delivering news.
But the news is not going away; it’s just evolving. Our intellectual needs are not diminishing; they’re just being fed through new and growing digital avenues, especially at the local level.
In communities around the country, as the conventional news media pull back and trim their coverage, enterprising entrepreneurs are using the Internet to step up their own game. In central Pennsylvania, StateCollege.com is at the forefront of this new-media movement, steadily building its presence as a spirited, engaged and honest provider of local news and commentary. Our local roots, local ownership and local commitment are grounded in the great traditions of public-service journalism, devoted to illuminating the most important issues and informing healthy debate. We answer to and empower the community we serve.
What can you expect from me? Thorough, fair and assertive reportage and observations from town, Penn State and the townships of the Centre Region. Consider us your advocates for information. Our news focus will center on the issues and events that have the most substantial direct impact on the area and its residents — from the local schools to Old Main, borough politics to suburban development.
You can also expect me to be accessible. A news organization is nothing without ideas and feedback from its readers, so please feel welcome — and encouraged — to reach out any time with your thoughts. E-mail is often the quickest way to find me: adam.smeltz@statecollege.com.
More importantly, though, expect to see me a lot in and around town, as well. Have I mentioned that I love this place?
To help distribute our frequent news dispatches as quickly as possible, I have set up a new Twitter account at twitter.com/scnewsdesk. The account will become active and vibrant starting this week, and I hope you’ll keep track of us there. For our Facebook-minded friends, highlights from StateCollege.com, including our news coverage, will continue to appear on our Facebook page.
Meanwhile, thanks for joining the adventure.
