Last week was the annual National Newspaper Week and forgive us if we kept that fact a little on the down low last week. There’s been a lot going on and we simply missed the opportunity to take part in our own party.

For years, newspapers have used the week to focus on just what it is we do each day to cover the areas, communities, towns and cities that fall within our coverage areas.

For us, though, simply celebrating National Newspaper Week would be a little limiting. You see, we take pride in knowing that we are far more than a newspaper.

When I started in this business nearly 20 years ago, the newspaper was it. The Internet, as we know it now, hadn’t even been imagined, much less the idea of YouTube. And, probably even harder to believe, 24-hour news television networks actually reported the news instead of the drivel they spew out now.

It was a completely different media landscape and it was one where newspaper was king and rightfully so.

But, today it is a much different world. Today, I ask my reporters to cover an event using digital recorders, cameras that don’t use any film, handheld video cameras and smart phones that allow them to post updates directly to the Web instantly.

No longer does the journalism quip from the movie “The Paper” stand true, “a clipboard and a confident wave will get you into any building in the world.”

Today, the reporters and editors who work every day to put the Times-Journal together have to know their way around the digital equipment the media world expects these days.

No longer do we — a newspaper — reach readers simply through a product printed on paper. Today, we reach thousands upon thousands of readers through our Web sites, email, digital video and social media.

Needless to say, it’s a completely different world than that of just a few years ago.

Today’s young journalists are better educated, more experienced and more technically savvy than those of my generation ever were or ever will be.

So, in going back to my point about National Newspaper Week; The Selma Times-Journal is far more than a newspaper. Today, we are a media company, offering breaking news through video, often times faster than our television competitors. Today, we are a media company that reaches more than 110,000 visitors each month through our websites and a media company that reaches nearly 3,000 email readers each day.

But, more important than any of those statistics, we are a media company that calls Selma, Dallas County and the Black Belt home. We are a media company that thrives and struggles alongside the rest of you, those we call our neighbors.

We are a media company heavily invested in the success and growth of this area.

The Selma Times-Journal is well into its second century of existence, but I will venture to guess those who were blessed to put it together so many years ago would have never imagined what we are able to do today.

Tim Reeves is editor of the Times-Journal. He can be reached at 410-1730 or tim.reeves@selmatimesjournal.com.