Deep Background

Now that my children are grown and living out of state, I have more time to think about whether my life’s work is moving in the right direction.

I began working in journalism in 1966 while still in college. I had zero skills for the occupation but I loved to write and thought newspapers were about writing.

Over the past 40 years I’ve learned about journalism.

Good journalism is essential to preserving democracy. Shedding light on the issues allows voters to make informed decisions.

There was a time in my life when I worried about the direction newspapers were taking.

After all, my career came of age at a time when newspapers were taking risks to uncover problems in our society. The New York Times – and other papers – published the Pentagon Papers released by Daniel Ellsberg, making the world aware of the lies beneath the rationale for the Vietnamese War.

Then Washington Post set two of its investigators loose on the Watergate story. We all know the end.

Back in those days, mega-corporations hadn’t taken control of the news process. And Wikileaks hadn’t begun overwhelming the citizenry with information. Years passed.

The Milton Times began publication in 1995. Both of my children helped in the beginning. My son, who was at Milton High School, handled deliveries and picked up the newspaper from the printing plant. My daughter worked full time creating ads and helping with page layout on the computer. My mother helped proof the pages.

The paper has changed over the past 15 years. A full-size truck brings the paper to town because it no longer fits in a large car or SUV. There is a staff of hard-working professional who put the pages together.

About 14 years ago, the paper developed a static web site which has undergone steady improvement. We continue to think about ways to change and improve the product.

While I’ve been busy growing the paper, my children have moved in other directions. My daughter is working towards her bachelor’s degree while raising two children. She has written two excellent children’s books.

My son is working as a therapist in California where he seems to have settled after traveling all over this country and through at least four Continents. He will marry later this year and I gain a new daughter. Today he has a web site of his own. Visit him at www.psychresources.net for more information.

This entry was posted on 8. August 2010 at 22:09 and is filed under behind the news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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