Introduction from Fern: I grew up in The Bronx and Long Island and moved to Iowa over fifty years ago with my first husband who accepted a job at Iowa State. I loved Iowa right from the start. I really did. I loved the big sky, the lack of traffic, the friendliness of all the people we met.
I really miss print newspapers. I was a nerdy kid (now a nerdy adult), and I have such fond memories of sitting on the floor to read because my arms were too short to hold them up. We subscribed to The Des Moines Register and swapped every day with our neighbor for The Mason City Globe-Gazette. I moved to Ames in 1995 and subscribed to The Tribune for many years. I, too, loved the police reports and snipped a bunch of great ones. I left Iowa in 2017 and have kept those with me through three additional moves since. Thank you for sparking some great memories. (And some sadness, but buttons come and buttons go.)
This breaks my heart! I SO miss the days when everyone read their local paper and would talk to each other about what they read--from front-page national news, to pudding-tossing hijinks, to what Ann Landers had to say. It was a kind of glue that connected us in so many ways. Newspapers not only kept us informed, but also got us talking to each other about our shared world.
Now we're hop-scotching through our information--as you say (great term for it!). It's great to have tons of options for information, but when none of us are reading much of the same things, we're less connected.
And about your pay, Fern. I was at first insanely JEALOUS (at the Newsday pay!) and then INFURIATED (at the Tribune pay). Do you realize that $450 in mid-90s money is $923 today? ??? ??? Nobody I know makes that kind of money in print journalism. And I certainly never made that kind of money at newspapers (though magazines paid handsomely once upon a time, thank heavens!).
I have a very, very strict policy that I do not write for free. Kudos to you for getting at least $50 from the Tribune.
And I think it's such a strange thing when editors move on and you're kind of left without contacts. You build up these great relationships, and then POOF, they're gone, and nothing's the same. I worked with some editors for 20 years, and loved them--developed personal relationships with them. More recently, editors came and went so often in our ever-changing media landscape, and I hardly ever met any of them in person. There's a loss there, too.
OMG. This comment is a post in itself. Sorry to go on and on, but you really hit a nerve here. Great piece, you two. LOVE IT.
I write very part-time for Jane Curtis, (at the Webster City Daily Freeman-Journal) my friend from ISU J-school days. (I refuse to call it the Greenlee school.)
One of my first jobs, the summer I turned 16, was running ad copy for the Ames Tribune. Verle Bergeson was the charming, dapper publisher. I had babysat the children of one of the other publisher/owners. He was a skirt-chaser and not to be trusted. I had a great summer and drank lots of Mountain Dew slushies and gained about ten pounds. Working in Advertising SUCKS. But the paper was something to be proud of.
I really miss print newspapers. I was a nerdy kid (now a nerdy adult), and I have such fond memories of sitting on the floor to read because my arms were too short to hold them up. We subscribed to The Des Moines Register and swapped every day with our neighbor for The Mason City Globe-Gazette. I moved to Ames in 1995 and subscribed to The Tribune for many years. I, too, loved the police reports and snipped a bunch of great ones. I left Iowa in 2017 and have kept those with me through three additional moves since. Thank you for sparking some great memories. (And some sadness, but buttons come and buttons go.)
This breaks my heart! I SO miss the days when everyone read their local paper and would talk to each other about what they read--from front-page national news, to pudding-tossing hijinks, to what Ann Landers had to say. It was a kind of glue that connected us in so many ways. Newspapers not only kept us informed, but also got us talking to each other about our shared world.
Now we're hop-scotching through our information--as you say (great term for it!). It's great to have tons of options for information, but when none of us are reading much of the same things, we're less connected.
And about your pay, Fern. I was at first insanely JEALOUS (at the Newsday pay!) and then INFURIATED (at the Tribune pay). Do you realize that $450 in mid-90s money is $923 today? ??? ??? Nobody I know makes that kind of money in print journalism. And I certainly never made that kind of money at newspapers (though magazines paid handsomely once upon a time, thank heavens!).
I have a very, very strict policy that I do not write for free. Kudos to you for getting at least $50 from the Tribune.
And I think it's such a strange thing when editors move on and you're kind of left without contacts. You build up these great relationships, and then POOF, they're gone, and nothing's the same. I worked with some editors for 20 years, and loved them--developed personal relationships with them. More recently, editors came and went so often in our ever-changing media landscape, and I hardly ever met any of them in person. There's a loss there, too.
OMG. This comment is a post in itself. Sorry to go on and on, but you really hit a nerve here. Great piece, you two. LOVE IT.
I write very part-time for Jane Curtis, (at the Webster City Daily Freeman-Journal) my friend from ISU J-school days. (I refuse to call it the Greenlee school.)
One of my first jobs, the summer I turned 16, was running ad copy for the Ames Tribune. Verle Bergeson was the charming, dapper publisher. I had babysat the children of one of the other publisher/owners. He was a skirt-chaser and not to be trusted. I had a great summer and drank lots of Mountain Dew slushies and gained about ten pounds. Working in Advertising SUCKS. But the paper was something to be proud of.