I’m holding the first edition of the newspaper I did on my own, with my first byline stories (and true to form, I messed up my own title) from Jan. 26, 2017.
As The Clermont Sun approaches its 194th year in existence, I will no longer be its editor.
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about how long the newspaper has been around, particularly as its own bicentennial approaches this decade, because it has outlasted many editors, and it will outlast me.
I am not indispensable, but the newspaper is, given my five years, four months at the paper, represents only 2.6 percent of the paper’s stewardship.
But even though my time was short in the grand scheme of things, I’m proud of my time at the newspaper, and even prouder of what my team consisting of Megan Alley and Garth Shanklin have been able to accomplish.
Yes, as I sit writing, behind my laptop sits the myriad awards we won at the Ohio News Media Association’s annual newspaper competition in February — we have been an award-winning newspaper for years, and will continue to be.
Yes, we’ve had reporters from The New York Times and The Washington Post pick our brains, and cite us in their papers, both as it regards news and sports.
And yes, I like to think we continued to make The Clermont Sun an indispensable local community newspaper these last five years, with our breadth of news and sports coverage, and amid a time of a changing media landscape and tumult.
However, our greatest accomplishment, if I can be sappy, is that we’ve been together these five years, four months. The three amigos. In this business of aforementioned tumult, high turnover, leadership changes, and a two-plus-year disruptive pandemic, we’ve stuck together, and continued to chart our vision of the paper.
“Our” is the keyword here. I came aboard The Clermont Sun as a 26-year-old, with no prior experience as an editor, leading a team, or designing a newspaper. And knowing nothing about Clermont County. Without the help of Megan and Garth from the beginning through to now, not only would the paper not be what it is, I wouldn’t be who I am.
They are just the immediate, direct help I’ve received. Behind-the-scenes, the newspaper literally wouldn’t exist without the longtime institutional knowledge and know-how of Frances Pope, Jamie Schubert, Tammy Newberry, Becky Byrge, Danny, and previous employees, Tony Adams, Connie, Ruby, and so many more.
So, it’s rare in this business that a team can stick together this long, which is why it’s bittersweet for me to be the one to break the path we’ve charted, to veer off into a new direction. I do so knowing that the paper is in good, capable hands of people who have essentially been co-editors without the title, anyway.
They’re certainly better at grammar than I am, and surely respond to emails and phone calls more efficiently.
I’ve been fortunate that through my time at Miami University, and after graduating, I’ve found a home in journalism, first at the college newspaper, then at The Cincinnati Enquirer, and finally, at The Clermont Sun. Each time I’ve left one to move on to another paper, it felt like leaving my baby behind.
The Clermont Sun has been my baby for five years. I’m proud of where I’ve taken the design of the paper. I’m proud of the stories I’ve covered, particularly when Megan, who graciously puts fresh eyeballs on my stories, and you, the reader, indulge my verbose deep dives into topics I thought would be of interest. I’m also proud of the emphasis I placed on community — the community items I’ve tried over the years to include in the paper, including wedding anniversary announcements, what the students are doing at the local schools, and boosting the arts by including comics, poetry, and fiction writing in the paper.
I’m also humbled by the myriad people along the way who have helped me to tell the stories I have, and who are too voluminous to name individually, but they know who they are. They are the sort of people that will get back to me quickly before a deadline, and be understanding of me when I in turn take two weeks to reply to their email.
I’m even more humbled by the people I’ve personally talked to who let me tell their story, running the gambit from a woman turning 103-years-old, to a mother grieving the death of her son. Those are the stories that make being a reporter inspiring and worthwhile. Those are the stories I’ll remember, and I hope you have, too.
My apologies to all those over the years whose stories I never got to tell, and to those whose stories I still won’t get to tell. There are many. Which is why the newspaper is indispensable. Within our county, there are stories waiting to be told that need to be told.
If I ever left journalism, I told myself I would only do so for something that became a higher calling than telling those stories, and I’ve been fortunate yet again to find that calling. I will be moving into nonprofit work to advocate for organ, eye, and tissue donation. As a living kidney donor, this is an opportunity I couldn’t ignore, and I will embrace it, despite my usual imposter syndrome-fueled trepidation (the same fuel that undergirded my first days at the paper), and my sadness at leaving behind my team, and the county, I’ve come to love.
Doubtful this will be the last time you see my name in the paper, as I’m sure I will have the occasional byline (in fact, I know I have two more stories, at least, coming next week), but this will be the last paper I have full control over.
I, for one, am excited to see what someone else can do with the newspaper under their vision for what it can be. It will surely be different from mine, and that’s a good thing! That’s why the paper has continued to exist. Change is the engine of progress, and the bedrock of longevity.
I have no doubt it will continue to grow, continue to be indispensable, and go into its bicentennial stronger than ever.
Thank you for accepting a shy, scared kid all these years.
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