Kevin Hensley
Monday is a time for celebration at 720 Tallulah, as your hometown newspaper turns 69 years young.
Should we splurge for 69 individual candles to go atop our cookie cake, or make it easy with the two numeric symbols?
Better yet, does that debate not signify that we are not worried about COVID anymore? Think of the oxygen it would take to extinguish 69 individual flames.
Time to insert my required digression here.
Usually, this annual “birthday” column reflects on times gone by and times that lie ahead. Here is the only bit of nostalgia I will offer this go-around: could our founder have ever foreseen a world where the reins would eventually be handed off to someone who had no idea what he was getting into?
Digging through our archives, I have learned a lot about the history of this county – well, since 1964 anyway (offer still stands if anyone has copies of 1955-63 Stars; steak dinner, on me). Each editor who has been put in the driver’s seat had their own unique quirks, likes and dislikes, reporting style, layout preferences, etc.
Math is why I write; even my basic arithmetic skills leave a lot to be desired. But there was no need for Common Core problem-solving to figure out that yours truly is the 13th editor in the storied history of the Star. I am still learning. My belief is you never stop learning; if you think you have learned everything, it’s time for a long, hard look in the mirror. Nobody is perfect.
Admittedly, when I walked back to Regional Publisher David Brown’s desk in May 2019 and told him I wanted this role, I thought I was ready.
Thought.
So in the spirit of David Letterman: from the home office in Wahoo, Neb., here are the Top 10 Things They Should Have Taught at Editor School:
* No. 10: A good night’s sleep is as rare as producing an error-free edition.
* No. 9: You will never produce an error-free edition.
* No. 8: No matter how balanced you try to make your coverage, someone will accuse you of having a hidden agenda. Every. Single. Time.
* No. 7: Good luck making real friends; very few will trust you with their “off the record” thoughts on life.
* No. 6: The morning sun glistens brighter when you have pulled a deadline all-nighter.
* No. 5: Your down time away from work will be calculated by the individual who decides a 2 a.m. Facebook message is more important than your REM cycle.
* No. 4: “Sports is also news” is a hot-button topic.
* No. 3: You will do extensive research to confirm something, print it as fact and then still find out later you were wrong.
* No. 2: People love a juicy front page – as long as their second cousin, third removed, is not involved in the scandal.
And the No. 1 thing they should have taught at editor school:
* Positive or negative, feedback about the newspaper still means people are buying and reading the newspaper.
Sales are a good thing. Thank you for investing in us as your documenters for 69 years, Graham County.
Here’s to many more.
Kevin Hensley is publisher/editor of The Graham Star. A bonus item to the list above: we are all at the mercy of the U.S. Postal Service – but that’s a commentary for another day.