The Death Knell of Print Journalism Rekindles Fond Memories

            I predicted the end of print journalism in the early '90s and the reality of that is coming to fruition. The latest chain nearing bankruptcy is Gatehouse Media with move than $1 billion in debt.

            I made my bones, as they say, in the newspaper business. When looking at all the stops I made along the way to fulfillment of a journalism career, I always have fond memories of my first real newspaper job in Morton, Ill. In those days, holding a college degree bought you a journalism job under $200 a week in the 1980s for a small-town paper.

            My first hire came from Gary Blackburn, who is retiring as Publisher/President of Tri-State Media in Princeton, Ind. He's been with the parent company, Brehm Communications, for 30 years.

            I prepared this for his retirement party to show how one person can greatly influence someone's life. Here it is:

 

            A good career would be terrible to waste.

            If it weren't for Gary Blackburn, I probably would have died in the ghetto. To the man facing retirement, many thanks again for giving me a shot when others were reluctant.

            You see, I wanted to become a newspaper man even though I was born legally blind. Went to college, got a degree and was one of 20 paid staffers on the Daily Egyptian at Southern Illinois University in 1977. Good grades, good references, but without a car, there were no offers after graduation. I took a job in the inner city, teaching high school kids how to write and how to run a printing press until the Feds cut our funding in late 1979. No job, no car, no career and I was living in a bad part of town.

            I interviewed in January 1980 with Gary at Tazewell Publishing but didn't get the job. Then I had to spend two weeks' time caring for my dying father in Florida. After Gary hired some schmuck with a car who alienated himself quickly, he called me the day I got back from my father's funeral. Fate, perhaps.

            Maybe all he had left to choose from was a raw, half-blind sportswriter. But in a matter of minutes, he turned me into an award-winning reporter, feature writer, editor, photographer and community activist. The pay was lousy so you knew we were only there to launch a career. Gary, however, made the newsroom a family and helped us realize we could make a difference in a small town full of rich people.

            We became proponents of change, positive change. We halted what would have been a big mistake in a small town when some short-sighted administrators thought joining a big-city high school conference was the way to go. We stopped the insanity with a barrage of editorials from Gary the Editor and the blond-haired sports editor who rode a bike to work and hitched rides to out-of-town sporting events. We recommended forming a new conference where academic and sports equality could be found. That alliance is thriving today.

            After three-and-a-half years of making a difference and winning awards in Morton, it was time to leave the nest. After stops as a copy editor in Carbondale, Peoria and then for Gannett in Green Bay, I heard Vegas calling in 1987. Bolting from the Gannet chain unexpectedly, I went to the desert to seek fame and fortune. I got half of that. I served as the features editor, magazine editor and feature writer for the famous Las Vegas Sun for the Greenspun Empire. Then I was hired as the lead writer and public relations coordinator for Caesars Palace. After serving as a event and PR specialist for Las Vegas Events, I took a job for Las Vegas Magazine and held the titles of associate editor, editor, editor-in-chief and editor emeritus over six years. I later moved on to own a public relations business handling celebs and freelancing around the world. A small-town journalist made it big in Vegas.

            I've also been an event promoter, grant writer, ghost writer, book editor, business owner, gaming consultant and a high school and college teacher. I started a journalism program at the junior college in Las Vegas and was whisked off to far-away places as a travel writer.

            Last year, I won two more Illinois Press Association awards that included a first in Newswriting Series and second in Investigative Reporting for a series I wrote uncovering pollution in the neighborhood where I once lived. Had I not gotten out, I would have lived where many died of cancer from the pollution by a local factory where I used to work as a kid.

            The one opportunity I needed to escape a bleak existence to accomplish all that came from you. That chance led to more and more and more in my life.

             Currently, I'm back in Illinois. I teach holistic health and energy healing classes for a couple junior colleges and trade schools. I have been a Reiki Master for 26 years, give speeches, teach seminars in hospitals and write a health blog. I have a fantastic family of a wife and two kids. Married for 15 years, my family is my life now. The glorious memories of a storied career are treasured. 

            None of that would have been possible without my first real journalism gig given to my by one of the nicest people I have ever met. Congratulations, Gary, on your retirement.