When I landed my first job in journalism 30 years ago this month, I had a freshly minted sheepskin proclaiming my Master of Arts in English (one of the most worthless degrees in the world in terms of making a living), no experience and an over-inflated opinion of my writing ability.
The folks at the newspaper were skeptical, but after a few months of persistent cajoling, finally agreed to a two-week trial period, so they could see if I was as good as I thought I was.
My first assignment was to write a profile of a young woman who had won a national beauty contest based exclusively on the headshot she sent in to the contest board. There was no pageant, no verbal section, and no talent segment. Just that headshot.
It had the potential to be a pretty funny story because, as the editors later pointed out, “The male judges just picked the one they’d most like to date,” but I missed all of that.
Instead of a cynical exposé of the bogus selection process, I turned in an incredibly long, straight story extolling the woman’s virtues, her personal history and how she planned to change the world if she won the national contest. Oh, and I forgot to assign a photo.
I knew I was in for a rocky morning when, instead of bowing down before my story and singing, “He has finally arrived!,” the first editor to read it let out a groan like a wounded badger, banged his head on his desk about five times and shouted, “Why did they send me another [expletive deleted] English major?”
I was given two hours to rewrite the story before deadline and turn it into what the editor described as something “anyone with a functioning brain cell would want to read,” and I had to spend part of that two hours tracking the young woman down so the photo department could capture her for posterity.
My next assignment was to cover a potluck supper at the local Grange hall. As I was walking out the door, my friend the desk editor had these words of encouragement: “You’re on borrowed time, kid. Try not to [expletive deleted] this up.”
My mother, who was known to gamble from time to time, gave my father 20-1 odds that I wouldn’t make it through the two-week trial period, but somehow I did. And after the period was over, I got my first “beat,” as a county government reporter covering sewage, public health (I wrote a real doozy of a story about head lice) and road contracts. Did I mention that I also covered the Airport Board and the County Fair Committee?
It wasn’t until more than a year later, when I had finally worked my way onto the police beat and was covering a story about a daytime bank robbery that I had my epiphany. It dawned on me, as I heard the city editor pitching the story for page one, that I might have actually stumbled into a career. “I could do this when I grow up!” I thought, and that was one of the happiest days of my life.
For the next 30 years, I put my share of the family bread on the table as a newspaperman (I hate being described as someone in the media), and although it didn’t allow us to raise our family in style, it did provide a steady income.
We moved around some over the years. There was a period when I was the managing editor of a small daily newspaper in Illinois. Then we moved to the North Shore of Boston for five years so I could edit an alternative weekly there.
And then, 15 years ago, I was offered the job of executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers, which at that time had five publications. Today, they have 13, and more than three times the circulation.
Our family found a home in New Jersey, and I found a home at these newspapers. I love the communities we cover. I love the staff. I was treated well by the management. Every week, when I’d put the pile of our latest newspapers on my desk and start going through them with comments or suggestions, I felt a feeling of pride and accomplishment that parents feel when they see their children doing well. It was my intention to stay here until retirement, and then fade into obscurity; maybe work as a parttime fly-fishing guide.
But life doesn’t always work out like we plan. A couple of years ago, I noticed that the symptoms of a childhood disease seemed to be coming back, and growing worse. So last August, I took some time away from the newspapers to focus on physical therapy and rehabilitation. I thought that after a few months, I’d be well enough to return to work full time. My date of return was scheduled for Monday, Jan. 19. The Friday before, however, I faced the truth. I simply can’t go back to work full time, at least not now.
So I’ll be leaving Greater Media at the end of the month as executive editor to continue focusing on physical therapy and rehabilitation. I’ll still be writing this column every week, and I’ll still be working with the newspapers in some capacity.
But the day-to-day operation of the Editorial Department will fall on other shoulders. Mark Rosman, managing editor of the News Transcript, and News Editor Adele Young will be doing most of the heavy lifting. And the newspapers still have a wonderful and dedicated staff of editors, photographers, reporters and graphic artists to make sure your community newspaper remains vibrant and relevant.
As everyone knows, the last year was a tough one for American newspapers, and these papers were no exception. There are serious challenges out there and nobody knows where the bottom is.
But it is my belief that community newspapers like these Greater Media publications will not only survive this crisis, they will eventually emerge stronger and more stable than ever before.
The simple fact is that readers place a great value on news about their local communities, and there is no one else to provide that level of news coverage but local newspapers. Large regional daily newspapers can’t provide it. Television can’t provide it. Radio can’t provide it. Anonymous bloggers and Web content providers can’t provide it, because they don’t have enough boots on the ground. Only community newspapers like these can provide that information. And that’s why they’ll survive.
That’s a very comforting thought as I open this new chapter of my life.
Gregory Bean is executive editor of Greater Media Newspapers. You can reach him at [email protected].