When I came into the office on Monday, Andy Brostrom, our “ad guy,” reminded me that this week’s issue of the Cook County News-Herald
marks the anniversary of when our publishers, Hal and Deidre Kettunen, purchased the News-Herald.
We have been producing the News-
Herald
in its current guise for one year now.
Writer/Reporter Jane Howard suggested we have a party and everyone agreed. But then the phone rang, and someone came in to renew a subscription, and someone else came in to place an ad, and we all got busy and forgot. The celebration is on hold for now.
The concept of our newspaper anniversary is a little bit confusing anyway. Those of us who worked for Hal and Deidre at the Cook County
Star
feel like we should have already had a big celebration. The Star,
the News-Herald’s
rival for nine years, would have celebrated its 10th anniversary on October 9, 2009. Those of us who have been with the paper all along—me, Over the
Hill
columnist Joan Crosby, longtime The Good News
columnist Pastor Dale McIntire, and of course, Hal and Deidre themselves—never got to celebrate the 10th anniversary of working together.
In fact, in the busyness of producing the newspaper, nearly all of us forgot. Only Joan Crosby remembered, bringing back one of her historic first columns, recalling the days she spent in the wilderness of Tucker Lake. She offered the Tucker Lake memories in honor of her 10th anniversary at the paper. It was very enjoyable to read again of the challenges of living without road access or amenities. The classic Over the
Hill
column was a nice way to quietly celebrate our anniversary. Or rather, a nice way to celebrate our non-anniversary. Thanks, Joan!
To further complicate things, Hal and Deidre didn’t purchase the News-Herald
at the beginning of the publishing year. If you look at the front of this issue, you will see that it is Vol. 119, No. 31. We are just a little over halfway through our publishing year, which ends when we reach No. 52. That means our actual print anniversary is April 3, 2010.
Confusing?
Just a little. But it’s nothing compared to the confusion of the first days, weeks, and even months after the two papers— the Cook County Star
and the Cook County News-Herald
merged a year ago.
First there was confusion over what we should call the newly merged paper—Herald-
Star? Star-News?
In the end, Hal decided to keep the name of the historic paper, the News-
Herald.
The paper his mother and father owned and published. The paper with over a century of history.
Then, although few of us had moved from the building where we had worked, there was a new address, a new phone line, new e-mail addresses and new colleagues. There was rearranging of schedules and reporting beats. There were readers angry about changes and others delighted with changes.
There was the challenge of proving that one newspaper can represent all the interests of a community. That is only possible with the support of the community. So thank you, to all of you. Thanks for sharing your happy news—birth and wedding and graduation announcements. Thanks for sharing your sad news with touching obituaries and memorial remembrances. Thanks to all who took pictures of wildlife or sporting events or plays and concerts. Thanks to everyone who sent letters to the editor or who helped us gather the news each week.
We couldn’t be a community newspaper without you. Celebrate yourself !
A good newspaper is a nation
talking to itself.
Arthur Miller
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