Buying a weekly

I would totally move to backwoods Canada to work for typefitter at a community paper. That would be AWESOME.

 

Surprised it took two pages, but this is likely the type of response he hoped for among the bits of "advice".

If you did that, I would totally read your book about it.

 

Labeling Canada "backwards" is probably not a great way to start a job pursuit.

 

I told him I'd go there in a heartbeat and bring reporting, writing, photographer, pagination, digital skills in tow.

 

Y'all know they wouldn't pay in real money, right?

 

I work for a small weekly (although certainly not as small as the one you describe). And I went into it thinking I could really use the skills and talent I'd acquired from more than a decade at daily papers to kick things up a notch. I like to think I've done that. My designs are sharp, my stories more than solid.

And you know what? No one cares. Ninety-nine times out of 100, I get no feedback from my bosses or the community. That one time I do, it's because I wrote a nice story about someone. That's what people are looking for in their weekly. They want to see their names and their accomplishments.

I've been at this paper for five years because it lets me be home with my girls three days a week. Somewhere along the way, I realized I could mail it in if I wanted to. I DON'T want to, but the temptation is definitely there.

I feel lucky that I take enough pride in my work that I haven't resorted to cutting corners. But it's definitely been soul-sucking. Believe me, I'd be beyond thrilled to have someone like you as the owner. But I'm pretty sure that wouldn't change what the community wants to see in the paper.

There might be a happy medium, but my gut feeling is it's not worth the energy you'd devote to it.

 

You could take it home and change it for more.

 

You like to write, right? Is that your passion?
Stick with it.
Buying a weekly ... If you are doing it - and you don't plan on running it - shelve this idea until you retire.

Running a small business - any small business - is a full time effort. if you want it to be successful it is all consuming. You work constantly. You are there almost all the time, 24-7. It's not a part-time endeavor. Not unless you are rich enough to hire someone to run it and be a hands-off owner.

 

But I could cash my check, put it in a sock, and beat the shit out of a bum.

 

What are the odds the bum would be a fellow journalist?

 

Oh, caring enough would not be the problem. My fear has been that it would consume too much of me. One of the perks of the magazine writer lifestyle is its lack of structure or routine. I like my relative freedom and flexibility. So part of me has been worried that having to put out a paper every week, especially to the standards that I'd want, would begin to feel more like burden than enjoyable sideline.

I think what I'm going to do is buy a piece of the paper. A very successful businessman/local hero has offered to share ownership. We'd have a board and I'd sit on that, but I'd be a minority owner and we'd have a hired staff (all new—the former owners have been the main staff). The person I wanted to hire has decided she can't take it on, which was a pretty big factor for me. Part of me feels a little bit sick about not going for it—the local hero has said he'll step aside if I want it—but I'm just not sure I can devote enough time to it right now. Or, I'm not sure that I wouldn't devote too much time to it.

Thanks for the advice, counsel, and offers of migration. I'll keep you posted with what I end up doing. But right now I'm thinking a minority stake and maybe I can take over the whole thing in a few years when I'm not so tired.

Of course, now I feel like puking a little bit. Dammit.

 

My father grew up in small town Wisconsin. He and my mother now live in a city roughly 45 minutes from his hometown. Growing up, my father (or more accurately, his in-laws as a Christmas gift) purchased a mail subscription to the small town paper. I'm guessing the circ numbers are roughly equivalent to typefitter's proposed purchase, if not identical. So I grew up reading the "Podunk Press" every Thursday.

Most of the paper was devoted to "around town" notes. There would be paragraph after paragraph of "Chief and Mrs. Clancy Wiggum, along with their delightful son, Ralph, visited Mrs. Agnes Skinner and her son, Stanley on Saturday night. Agnes made her famous pot roast and all parties enjoyed watching "Ralphie" play with his new toy cars." My great-grandma frequently contributed to these columns and would get very upset with herself if she forgot to call something in, because by next Thursday, it would be "old news." There were updates on the local HS team's mighty athletic battles, weak editorials and bizarre columnists. If there was a controversy in town, the paper might cover it, but only half the story (and that half was never the interesting or juicy half).

As I got older -- and especially once I went to work for the 30K circ in my hometown -- I found the paper more and more amateur. My alma mater's college paper was 100X more professional, better designed, better written. My high school paper was better. When I'd pick up the Podunk Press and see bumping headlines, bad photographs, and no copy editing, I would grimace and feel self-superior to those bumpkins. The design of the paper did not change once in the 20+ years I read it. Every paper looked the same and I couldn't believe anyone willingly read it.

As I read this thread, I imagined myself buying the paper like Typefitter. Updating the design, hiring young hungry talent, giving the town a paper it could be proud of. My grandparents still live there, as do several uncles and aunts and countless cousins. But if I did that, the paper would be dead in two years and I would be a pariah.

Everything that made me cringe -- awful design, focus on irrelevant minutiae, blatant cheerleading for the hometown -- is what gives it the community support and advertising. It is the paper of record for the hometown and the job is to record everything that happens, especially the good. It almost serves the same function as a high school yearbook. And just as no one wants a high school yearbook with an expose about how prevalent drug use was on the campus, no one wants a smalltown newspaper that reports bad news. Small town newspapers do not practice the same kind of journalism practiced by most newspapers/magazines/major websites. Their kind can make a small profit (advantage: smalltown paper) and it isn't wrong, but it is very different.

Typefitter, I honestly believe that the best course for you and your mental health, is to pass on buying the newspaper.