Landing on your feet

Well, I've seen my first paper shut down under my watch. 

The Sun folded at the beginning of April. We couldn't get enough ads sold with one ad rep and when he left, we were done. It was published for three years and never really got off the ground completely. Bozeman is a ripe market for a great weekly, but it's going to take some savvy ownership and some money. 

The good news is The Madisonian in Ennis was looking for an editor about the time I was looking for a new job. So I started work here last week and we're just getting done with the first issue under my direction. It is also our first edition we've built entirely on a computer. No more paste up boards. It's revolutionized our office. We publish 2,100 newspapers and cover nearly a dozen communities. 

So Yoshi moved back to Japan and I moved to the tiny town of Ennis, Mont. Good moves on both our parts I think. Look for The Madisonian launching its first Web site here in the next couple of months. We're taking this thing into the 21st Century. 

Bozeman shocked

Last week, a restaurant in downtown Bozeman blew up and started a fire that destroyed five businesses. It was arguably the biggest local story in 10 years. Some people said it was the biggest local story in the last 80 years.

From a journalism standpoint there were many different story lines. Obviously, people impacted by the explosion. One woman was killed. Five families have lost their businesses and I don't know how many people are out of work. (I should know, because that would be a good fact to have.)

The news during the day of the explosion was dished out most efficiently on the Internet. Twitter, blogs, NewWest – they were all outpacing the Bozeman Daily Chronicle all day with both photos and news. It was an astounding example of how a daily newspaper, that thinks like a daily newspaper, struggles to compete, in terms of timliness, with the Internet.

I've yet to write anything of substance on the explosion. For a weekly, the breaking news stuff wasn't relevant and our Web site hasn't been a focus for us. But I'm looking for a more in depth story on the aftermath of the explosion. It's interesting because that's exactly what the Chronicle is doing now too.

Anyway, I did take few photos that I posted here.

A new Lemon

I would like to officially introduce the newest Lemon to you all. Here name is Claire Cecilia and she is amazing. She was born Jan. 13 at 6:52 a.m. We spent a week in the hospital as she recovered from a minor infection. She weighed 8 pounds, 8 ounces and was 21 inches long. Now she's on the north side of 10 pounds and close to 23 inches long. She smiles when I stick my tongue out at her and she tries to mimic the faces we make at her. Renee is doing really well and though we're not sleeping through the night yet, two nights ago Claire slept for five hours in one stretch.

I can't believe I'm a dad. It's amazing that all that history and all that future can be held in such a small person.

A Crazy 2008

"Hello?"

The words echoed in the dark with no response.

Hey guys. I know you're out there. So another year is coming to an end and that means another year as a cog in the journalistic wheel of this cruel, cruel world.

News is slow this time of year. I spent at least 12 hours last week compiling a "Year in Review" for our newspaper. That was riveting journalism. Hey I got one for ya ... in October we had two weeks with $900 total in advertising each week. That is roughly half the cost of printing the paper for one week. Things are better though. Thank God for the consumerism of the holidays. We fired our publisher, so now the owner is publisher and I'm taking over more of the publishing duties, short of selling advertising though. But I'm optimistic. The Alt monthly in Bozeman, the Tributary, which was a Lee paper, shut down and so we're basically the only alternative to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle on the market.

The best news is my wife is days (maybe hours) away from going into labor. I'm pulling for a New Year's baby since I think you get free shit as well as your picture in the paper. Renee's doing really well and everything looks good. We don't know whether it's a boy or girl, but I'll report back as soon as the small Lemon comes into the world.

I hope you all are doing well and enjoying the holidays.

Merry New Year,
Lemon

thanks

Mr. Lemon,

Thanks for joining. I tried to watch the whole debate tonight, but calls kept coming in, including from telemarketers. Oh well ... 

How's your new job in the new town going? 

As for me, it's hard to imagine I'm leaving the states in three months. Reality is finally dawning upon me. 

Guys, I'm doing some business stories now because that's what I need most to do well in Japan. I'm likening business stories much more that I thought. 

I'm In

Hello my fine newsy friends,

Sorry it took me so long to engage in our blog.

So a month ago I scheduled a book reading here in Bozeman on the night of a presidential debate. What a dumb move. So tonight while I'm reading to a small crowd of people who will only show up because I asked them to, the rest of you will be watching this town hall debate, which I think will be the best of the silly season.

Did anyone ever find Malcolm? Is he still writing?

Of course he is, dumb question. I haven't seen him or heard from him forever.

Peace out.

five weeks to go

Forgive me for writing about politics here. But it's that time again: election season. And I'm doing a few typical profile stories for state legislature races. Have you guys seen any papers doing those stories in innovative ways? I'm trying to bring some change to those routine stories.

Any suggestions will be appreciated.