Two years ago, on an invitation from the leadership, I had a conversation with the Everett Herald staff about substantive journalism, the techniques for producing it and the aspirations behind it. I was impressed by the questions they asked, and the ideas they brought up, including descriptions of methods I hadn’t included in my remarks. And I wasn’t surprised. Ahead of time, I looked up their work and read about their backgrounds. Impressive.
Thus, I was stunned when you dismissed half of the current staff and stated in the aftermath that, “operations are not going to change much” and “readers won’t notice.” I suspect you know better. You probably uttered those comments without realizing there is a sentient audience out there. Both Rudi Alcott and Todd Carpenter rose up through the circulation sides of this business, including digital, and you should know better. That said, I doubt you have the chops for a journalism miracle, which is what you are proposing here.
Everyone knows the business has fallen on hard times. When you talk to these journalists, photographers, designers and producers about doing more with less, if should be in the context of congratulating them on the daily miracle of their passion, not in the context of turning out the light on their work.
Journalism is not an ordinary business; it has nothing to do with widgets. It is the weft in the fabric of democracy, and to unravel it is to do this nation a disservice.
By the way, I began my daily journalism journey at the Everett Herald.
Eric Nalder
Suquamish
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