In the newspaper business, we give Labor Day its name because you have to work at least twice as hard to get the day off.
The big news of the past week was Shaw Media’s acquisition of the Prarie City News.
The staff here in Newton learned of the deal the same day we announced it on our front page. Since then, it was a flurry of activity as we prepared to provide news coverage for the newest member of our family.
We are in the process of hiring someone to join our news and sports team to assist us, but in the meantime, we’re all doing our part to help get the job done. This week — our first with the Prairie City News — included a few additional challenges.
Effectively, we produced this week’s Prairie City News from scratch, shorthanded, on a holiday week.
We got through the whole thing with flying colors, producing what I think is a very good local newspaper, in spite of all the challenges we faced. That’s entirely because of the great staff we have working here at the Newton Daily News.
Last night, as I looked at what we had accomplished in such a short amount of time, I started feeling really darn proud of the folks who work with me. A lot of other news organizations would’ve accepted being late, or producing something not quite as good, just to get it done.
Not these folks. So, to borrow from Paul Rhoads, that’s why “I’m so proud to be their [newsroom] coach.”
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If you’re reading this, thank a teacher. If you’re reading this in English, thank a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine.