Every season serves a purpose
Ilove the change of seasons, which is hilarious because I live in Florida — the land of one season. But lately, I’ve been giving more thought to the type of season that Merriam-webster describes as “a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature.” Life takes us through many different seasons. Whether it’s a season when the weather changes or a season of your life, we all get to the point where we’re ready for the next season. Winter drags on a bit too long; diapers and tantrums seem never-ending.
I feel like our country — and the news media industry in turn — is in a very strange season, and I’m ready for it to change. It feels like both our industry and our country are stuck in the winter doldrums. Division and frustration are rampant. We need to band together to get through this time and come out on top. The learning that comes from this time could take us to places we can’t even imagine in our next season. I’m ready for spring!
The fight is real, and change is in the air. … Or is it? We have two articles in this issue that speak directly to this sense of fight and change in this season. First, our Shoptalk this month is a reprint of Lee Wolverton’s stellar editorial, “About Israel and West Virginia.” His was the sole response we received from the industry to Gretchen Peck’s February 2022 article “Anti-boycott laws run afoul of the free press.” This is our wake-up call, and
Lee also stepped up to give his readers one. And the article, “An inequitable partnership turns toxic,” details our fight to change the disparity in who is receiving payment for our content. This is probably the fight of this season, and we each must step up and do our part to ensure the future of local journalism.
Our story about the Santa Fe New Mexican, “The ‘Rust’ movie shooting,” points out how key learnings and seasons come together in a story about a relatively new journalist and two seasoned photojournalists. They found themselves in the middle of one of the biggest stories they could imagine. It’s also a tale of how other veterans in their newsroom banded together to help their colleagues, inform the local community, and address the resulting chaos that came with the notoriety.
Last but not least, E&P’S 2022 class of 10 News Publishers That Do It Right have taken up the challenges in this different climate and fulfilled their missions to deliver news in innovative ways that are changing their local communities for good. Read each of these — and the honorable mention publishers — who show up to work for their readers and deliver a difference every day.
And remember the words of Henry David Thoreau, “Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit and resign yourself to the influences of each.” Maybe it doesn’t need to be such a fight after all.