Bill Duncon writes:

It was there that I discovered the charm of a small-town newspaper and its far-flung rural correspondents. Those journalists were not spoiled by all the book learning from colleges and universities. They were untrained housewives picking up extra money by writing tidbits about their neighbors.

Happy news has always sold well, and has been the province of smaller papers for a while. Of course, if you go that route, you are pursuing a different brand image, forsaking authority for community.