All The News That’s Fit To Print&uot; may be the most recognizable mottos in the country. At the top of page one of The New York Times for a number of years, it is certainly the most familiar to newspaper folks.

Webster’s defines &uot;motto&uot; as a word, phrase or sentence chosen as expressive of the goals or ideals of a group and inscribed on a seal, banner, coin, etc.

The Democrat, for a number of years, has carried the motto &uot;Serving Natchez, Vidalia and the Miss-Lou.&uot; Pretty straightforward if you ask me, but a worthy motto nonetheless.

But to really understand The Democrat’s goals, one must dig into our mission statement, printed daily at the upper left corner of this page.

From producing exciting, top quality news publications focusing on people and events that affect the Miss-Lou, reporting the news accurately and without bias, editing and publishing with integrity and with the best interest of the community in mind, doing what we say we will do, taking an active leadership role in the community to earning a fair profit and treating those we associate with the way we would like to be treated, our mission is a worthy set of goals. And it’s not just words on paper. It is why we are here.

That said, I have struggled, from time to time, to try and squeeze all of that information into a Democrat motto, but have not yet pulled it off. I am open to suggestions.

I have, however, discovered that some other newspapers are a bit more creative than The Democrat and The New York Times in formulating their mottos. Matter of fact, according to a recent American Journalism Review article, some are down right quirky. Here are a few of the more interesting mottos listed in the article:

4 &uot;Published in the apple capital of the world and the buckle of the power belt of the great Northwest&uot; – Washington’s Wenatchee World.

4 &uot;The Pulse of Paradise&uot; – Hawaii’s Honolulu Star Bulletin.

4 &uot;Home of the Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival&uot; – Morgan City’s Daily Review.

4 &uot;If you don’t want it printed, don’t let it happen.&uot; – Colorado’s Aspen Daily News.

4 &uot;Serving the Holly City of America&uot; – New Jersey’s Millville News.

4 &uot;Help America Discover Columbus&uot; – Kansas’ Columbus Daily Advocate.

4 &uot;Our aim: To fear God, tell the truth and make money.&uot; Arlington Heights, Illinois, Daily Herald.

4 &uot;Truth in Preference to Fiction&uot; – Greenville, North Carolina, Daily Reflector.

4 &uot;Fanning the Flames of Discontent&uot; – Boonville, California, Anderson Valley Advertiser.

4 &uot;There are three things that no one can do to the entire satisfaction of anyone else: make love, poke the fire and run a newspaper.&uot; (William Allen White, 1917) – Colorado’s Durango Herald.

4 &uot;No Tombstone is Complete Without Its Epitaph&uot; – Arizona’s Tombstone Epitaph.

4 &uot;Without or with offense to friends or foes, we sketch your world exactly as it goes.&uot; (Byron) – Texas’ Abilene Reporter-News.

4 &uot;The Only Newspaper In The World That Gives A Damn About Yerlington&uot; – Yerlington, Nevada, Mason Valley News.

4 &uot;Covers Dixie Like the Dew&uot; – Atlanta Journal and Constitution.

4 &uot;If You Would Avoid Criticism, Say Nothing, Do Nothing and Be Nothing&uot; – Oklahoma’s Perry Daily Journal.

4 &uot;It Screams!&uot; – Whitesburg, Kentucky, Mountain Eagle.

4 &uot;Liked by many – Cussed by some – Read by them all&uot; – Georgia’s Blackshear Times.

Todd Carpenter is publisher of The Democrat. You can reach him by calling 446-5172, ext. 218 or by e-mail at todd.carpenter@natchezdemocrat.com.