Happy birthday to us.
This month marks one year of UBJ, and it’s hard to believe, like when a baby figures out how to walk one day and suddenly becomes a toddler.
No, there’s nothing earth-shattering about putting out a weekly paper – that’s been happening for hundreds of years in general, 14 years at Community Journals in particular. But the experience of working at a brand-new publication is a singular one. I won’t say we’ve improved every single week, but I’m confident that for at least 48 of the past 52 weeks we tried. (I’m cutting us some slack for those unexpected, crazy weeks when it’s all we can do to get the thing out.)
I’ve also never been in a position where I got so much feedback from the community. Whether I’m being praised or called out for a mistake, it’s good to hear from you all. At the very least, it’s reassuring to know that people still read local news.
As much as the journalism, it’s the conversations you have as a young publication that are interesting. Sometimes they’re frustrating. Who do we want to be, for whom and why are constantly revisited, and frankly I hope that remains the case even as we mature.
On the other hand, I’m glad when certain questions get answered for good. We’re doing it this way. The bar is this high. Agreed? Good. I love it when that happens.
I feel a certain obligation to look back and find the grand lesson from the year that was, but honestly, I’m not there yet. I’m thinking about the identity we’ve worked to carve for UBJ and the ways we plan to put it in print in 2014. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent just six months in my own role and am entering my own toddler phase, which is all about moving forward.
Or maybe it’s just the looming holiday deadline schedule, which only the bravest reporter dare not keep directly in her sights.
