It’s my pleasure to introduce Ryan Lucas as our newest reporter.
Ryan will be covering sports and general assignments. He is a
recent graduate of the same J-school I attended many years ago,
Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
* * * * *
Earlier this week I had a reader call and burn my ears off on
the legibility of the county employee salary listings in the Gold
Rush. I looked at them and tend to agree – they are a little hard
to read.
I am looking for ways to improve the visibility there. If I
figure out something in the next few days, I’ll have it posted on
our web site.
In general, I know most county employees would just as soon not
have them very easy to read. That is what makes them
interesting.
* * * * *
I don’t think I have ever seen quite that many eggs before in
one place (with the possible exception of Frietas Egg Farm in the
Central Valley of California).
Earlier this month, while helping Lions and Lionesses crack them
for Saturday morning breakfast in the parking lot over at Woodland
Park High School during the veteran’s bike rally, we filled two
huge cauldrons and we still didn’t have them all in
there.
The group fed more than 450 people and raised $1,100 after
expenses with the help of 21 Lions and Lionesses. It is the group’s
sixth year of taking care of breakfast.
“Not bad for bunch of old people,” notes Lioness Diana Hill. “We
moan and groan a lot but we get it done.”
* * * * *
Switching gears just a bit, I also recently ran into a
relatively low tech way to add dollars to keep the newspaper wolves
at bay.
While vacationing in the Black Hills of South Dakota, recently,
I noticed a shingle or window sign on a gift store designating the
building as also the home of the Custer County Chronicle.
Upon further investigation, I noticed the relatively modern
newspaper equipment, bound volumes, and other publishing evidence
in the very back end of the building.
When the “fiftyish” gentleman, answering a gift customer’s
questions at the register counter was free, I asked him about the
newspaper business in the back.
“Yes, most of the other papers in the area are owned by a large
chain but we have two weeklies and do a lot of guides and
publications centered on tourism,” answered Charley Najacht,
president of Southern Hills Publishing, Inc.
While looking though one of the publications, I also noticed
that he was also president of the local chamber of commerce – in
his spare time.
* * * * *
As Small-Town-Press.net founder Linda Sherwood notes, writing
for a small newspaper can be a different can of worms.
“Writing for small newspapers, you don’t have a lot of resources
and staff to gather news. You can work long hours with little
reward.” Sherwood says.
Despite all that, it can be very rewarding knowing you are
making a difference at the basic level. It is a noble
profession.
Jay Wagner, now Editorial Director for Business Publications
Corp., and for many years editor of the Northwest Iowa Review in
Sheldon, Iowa, points out some of the additional
challenges.
“You’ll never again have the experience of writing about inept
city government on Wednesday and then sitting with the mayor in the
bass section at church choir practice on Thursday night. It teaches
you humility and adds a whole new dimension to the importance of
accuracy and fairness,” wrote Wagner in a recent Poytner Institute
article.
Rob Carrigan (rcarrigan@ccnewspapers.com) is a third-generation
Colorado native and publisher of the Courier, Gold Rush and
Tri-Lakes and Gleneagle/Black Forest Tribune.