Here for more than just the news

Today, I’m reflecting on the 27-plus years that I’ve worked at the News Letter Journal. While I began part-time employment working mainly in the back room in
circulation, I have learned a great deal and continue to learn many things about the newspaper industry. For instance, how hard you strive to meet deadlines each and every week, and how as much as you want to put out that perfect newspaper, it never fails that there is always that one correction (or more) that doesn’t get made. That page number didn’t get changed, or the headline or cutline (caption) wasn’t fixed. And then the cycle begins again for next week’s paper and we’re on the hunt for interesting stories and the most relevant information to get in front of our readers.
I believe in the importance of a newspaper to a
community. We want to tell your stories, keep you informed about events and government action, advertise, support and promote your business, as well as document and preserve history. That’s our job, and always our goal.
As I’ve climbed the ladder here, I’ve found there to be more heavy lifting. I’ve felt more responsibility to be a voice for our readers. Even though the NLJ is not the official paper for Weston County, I appeared before the commissioners in January to specifically ask that they advertise a few notices (mainly board openings and help wanted ads) once a month in the News Letter Journal, not because they have to (legally), but simply because they really should want to inform our readers about these open positions. I am still hopeful they will choose to do this.     
I have taken many phone calls in my time here. I couldn’t even begin to guess the number of billing and circulation calls I’ve taken. I also get the calls when a reader is upset about something that ran in the paper, or didn’t run in the paper. Some calls are easy to solve, while others fall into the heavy lifting category. The easy calls are when a reader didn’t get their newspaper, and it is important that our loyal subscribers have their paper each and every week.
I received a phone call a couple weekends ago from a loyal
subscriber whose love and friendship I have always treasured. She informed me that she did not have long to live. I knew she had not been well, but the call left me shocked and emotional. She always made a point to make me feel special whenever I saw her.
There are times with this job that I do question if all the heavy lifting is worth it. But this call from a loyal subscriber and friend — a heavy call indeed — will forever remain with me, along with her love and
inspiration.