Cortland Standard documented local history, will be missed
CORTLAND, N.Y (WSYR-TV) — It was a typed-up note on the door and a 3 a.m. article that announced the Cortland Standard was closing.
The small staff was told hours prior on Wednesday afternoon, March 12, in an emergency meeting.
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'We found out that we had gone bankrupt, essentially,' Lily Byrne, a staff reporter for the Cortland Standard, said. 'Didn't really have any warning and were told we could only be paid until today just get your article done for the day, and it's been fun.'
For Lily, seeing their name on the bylines of papers scattered around the county never got old.
'I've always felt that news is so much more special and personal when it comes from someone living on your street. I feel like I live within everyone I write about,' Lily said.
For more than 157 years Cortland County's history was recorded by the punch of a key and the snap of a photograph.
'That's the kind of journalism that I love. When you find gold,' Bob Ellis, a photographer for the Cortland Standard for more than 30 years, said.
Bob retired in 2017, but still, when he hears sirens, he feels the call to grab his camera and track down what's happening.
From SUNY Cortland protests, to the burning of the clocktower downtown, and that rare unplanned, but magical moment, Bob captured it all through his lens.
'As I told some people it's like watching grandma or grandpa pass away really,' Bob shared regarding the Cortland Standard closing. 'You feel it in your heart. I spent a lot of time there I enjoyed it there and it's sad.'
The roots of the Cortland Standard run deep. The first job of Jeff Davidson, a loyal reader of the paper, was throwing the standard at doorsteps.
'When I was 12 years old, I carried two bundles over my shoulders from this intersection to the other end of town,' Jeff said. 'The pulse of the community is going to be truly truly missed. I'm sad.'
After recording a century and a half of history, the Cortland Standard's closing is an unfortunate sign of the times.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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