From the editor’s desk: Achieving something extraordinary
By Pat Caldwell
Sunday, July 19, 2009 12:45 AM PDT
When I first stepped into the editor’s chair at the Argus Observer, I vowed that if we were ever singled out for special recognition I would not overplay it.
That sentiment is rooted firmly in my upbringing. From a working class Irish-Catholic family, we were instilled at an early age with the motif it was unseemly to call attention to yourself when it came to accolades.
In fact, it was downright impolite. I can’t remember anyone in my family ever overtly instructing me that it was a bad idea to call attention to your own accolades. I think it was more of an unspoken theme that somehow resonated.
The rationale, I believe, revolved around that fact that if you were really good at what you did or if you accomplished something extraordinary, the action would speak for itself.
People would just know. And it would be impolite to overplay it.
So when we consistently secured awards (more than 50 overall since I became editor) at the Oregon Newspapers Publishers Association’s yearly Better Newspaper Contest I always played it straight. We mentioned it in a story, usually on an inside page somewhere, and moved on.
Partly, I’m sure, it was because of that family tradition I inherited. Another part of it was the very nature of our business. In the newspaper business, we live in a world of criticism. Internally and externally, the accolades are few and far between. People get mad at us for all sorts of things. From misspellings to wrong phone numbers to not enough local news and not enough national news and not enough Idaho or Oregon news. The list goes on and on, and we hear about it on a fairly regular basis. That’s the gig, and, if you come into this business, you understand that is the paradigm.
So I always thought standing up and shouting to the high heavens we secured a number of high profile awards at a statewide competition would just be going too far. I’m not sure I feel that way anymore. This year has been a tough one for us, as it has for any business anywhere. We’ve weathered a number of key changes and challenges.
When we made changes, we tried to keep the focus on the reader as much as possible, but, let’s face it, we’ve had to do some things we would have thought impossible two or three years ago.
This week, we learned that the Argus Observer clinched 13 awards at the Oregon Newspapers Publishers Association Better Newspaper Contest.
So what, right? Well, for us in the newsroom, and I hope throughout the plant, it’s a pretty big deal. Why? Well because, for one, we’ve never won that many awards in this contest before. Another reason why it is a big deal for us is the fact that we were judged by other journalists in another state (in this case Texas), and we faced strong competition from at least 10 other newspapers our size in Oregon.
But what does it really mean? For us in the newsroom, it means the old lessons (the ones you don’t hear much about anymore) of self-discipline, sacrifice and hard work really do pay off.
We are a small paper in a small community, and we don’t have a lot of resources. That right there would be enough to create excuses.
Excuses for doing the job only halfway. We could blame the economy; we could blame the current administration; we could blame the town or our geographic location for only doing the bare minimum.
But we didn’t. Instead, we forged ahead with the resources we had on hand and achieved a certain kind of victory. A real triumph in terms of newspaper work.
For most readers, none of this is going to mean much. You’ll still get mad at mistakes. Still get mad at a stance we take. Or, on the other hand, you may agree with us.
Either way, though, it is important you, the reader, know that this small newsroom in a tiny corner of Oregon really did achieve something extraordinary. We did it the old fashioned way: through hard work and dedication and a lot of sacrifice.
We might not be perfect, but you can bet we are trying every day to put out the best product we can.
I’m glad for my newsroom, glad for this paper and happy for this community. Because the 13 awards we secured say a lot about our readers and this great area.
This newsroom could have quit when the economic situation shifted.
But we didn’t. And we won’t.
We have a lot of courage, a lot of guts in this newsroom. And sometimes guts are enough.
Pat Caldwell is the editor of the Argus Observer. He can be contacted at PatC@argusobserver.com.
