HERB MCCRAE: HANNA'S NEWSMAN PUBLIC SERVANT

To Herb McCrae, founding publisher of the Hanna Herald, the idea of running a newspaper simply as a money-making venture was ''utterly sordid." He decried the notion that a paper is the owner's private property to be used as the publisher sees fit. Rather, McCrae argued, a newspaper should be regarded as a public utility. He wrote, "The Herald holds the view that a newspaper is a public servant, and that the editor's ideal should be to serve, uplift and advance the interests of the paper's constituency, morally, materially and in any and every other wholesome ways."' That unique vision of the role of a newspaper in a rural community set McCrae apart from other publishers and helped forge an uncommonly strong bond between the Herald and its readers. In his nearly 25 years running the Hanna paper, McCrae epitomized the small-town newsman, loyal to his community, proud of his town and district, always ready to defend it against outside critics and yet not reluctant to criticize the place when necessary. Struggling through