Mostly Malarkey
Several have commented they miss editorials and columns by the Ol' Editor since our retirement a year ago. One guy even suggested the OE write a book. Said he'd buy it.
Well on the way toward dubious success as an author, the OE beamed with pride. He's grown more accustomed to kicks in the pants than pats on the back.
Will Meysing of Oregon, grandson of Clear Creek patriarch the late Joe Meysing and son of community leader Paul, sent a book about a former newspaper publisher in New Mexico. The Eastern transplant, a graduate of Harvard with highbrow connections, his book is mostly personal commentary about members of his family. It fails to address experiences of community journalism. Your OE enjoyed the book, but thinks he could do better. If you'd like to read it, "An Unimportant Book, The Story Of My Life," the author is Lincoln O'Brien.
Gary Sosniecki is one of the most talented of Hillsboro Star-Journal former editors. The S-J sparkled under Gary's leadership, but he was a fish out of water in Hillsboro — a Chicago native with strong opinions. Gary and Helen then moved to Missouri where they purchased a small weekly, moved on to manage a regional daily, and recently published a larger weekly. They've won numerous state and national awards, including the coveted Cervi Award of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper editors.
This month that organization interviewed Gary. He talks about "letters to the editor" being the best gauge of a community newspaper. He also advocates that political endorsements are not necessary in small rural communities. We agree, the newspaper should instruct readers on the true merits and let the voter decide. An endorsement by some editors often is called "the kiss of death."
Like other successful editors Gary and Helen subscribe to the theory that "this is their newspaper, not ours." Subscribers should be allowed to vent their anger or post their opinion.
They should not use "letters" to write unpaid "cards of thanks," must sign letters, keep them to a reasonable length, and not write more often than once a month.
Letters are for those who read the newspaper, not for political hacks from afar who advocate a candidate or political forum and are not of the community.
Back when Gary was editor of the Hillsboro newspaper we would engage in fierce editorial differences. Now that he's moved from Hillsboro, and we own that newspaper, it's remarkable how similar we've become. What goes around comes around.
— BILL MEYER
