The Southeast Iowa Union: A paper you can count on

In 1903 my great-grandfather bought a small newspaper in south central Iowa. In the ensuing 116 years, from my great-grandfather, to my grandfather, to my father, to me, there has literally not been a day when one of us was not managing an Iowa newspaper and/or shopper.

If it were possible to have printers ink in your blood, I would be a good candidate.

I had my first paper route when I was five and started managing newspapers when I was 28. You did not ask for my resume, and I will not give it here, but all this is to say that I have been passionate about newspapers for approximately 70 years before I was born, assuming that was possible, and it continues to this day.

It is also important to note that I am certainly not a lone ranger when it comes to passion for newspapers. My bosses and the leadership at The Gazette, our parent company, also have a deep passion and understanding of the industry. We are all in this together.

I wanted to establish that passion as our conversation now turns to the Southeast Iowa Union. We launched The Union on Aug. 5. It was not an easy decision, and it is not an easy transition. I assure you that we are not making this change because it is fun.

We have been met by a few vocal readers who are, to put it nicely, not impressed. We have also received some very nice compliments. We knew this was going to happen. We also know, deep down, that we are doing the right thing.

In the days of my grandfather, when the town squares were full of retail stores and Facebook and Amazon were years away from existence, combining three successful community newspapers into one would have been a terrible decision. Ten years ago, I might have been fired if I would have suggested it. Even five years ago, it was not an option that was on the table. By then, however, you could start to see it coming.

Make no mistake, newspapers are businesses that answer to accountants, bosses and boards or they do not continue to exist. The trick as a newspaper manager or owner is to understand that we also answer to the communities we serve. Newspapers are an important public service that have a responsibility to their readers. There are many examples across the country where newspaper owners have forgotten the public service part of this equation.

The newspaper brains in our organization stalled this merger until it was clear that the business side of our brain demanded action. As we looked at our options, applying both business and newspaper logic, we developed The Union. A unique venture in the state of Iowa.

The alternative? Reducing frequency in each community to one or two days per week. That means potentially getting the obituary two days after the funeral; That means getting your high school basketball story a week after the game; That means, in all likelihood, no comics or Dear Abby; That means news that affects your life appears up to a week after the fact.

Washington is the second smallest town in Iowa, based on population, that still boasts a daily paper of at least five days per week. Mt. Pleasant and Fairfield are the fifth and sixth smallest. The struggle is real.

It is our mission as newspaper people to give you what you deserve in a way that still allows us to publish a community paper and be successful in a business sense. The Union continues our history of delivering the news from your community every weekday, but you also get good stories from similar size communities, within about a 30-minute drive, as a bonus.

A story in the Aug 13 Union featured Vikan Luong who built an elaborate, 26 perch birdhouse. It was a good local story featuring the skills of a talented local person. Does it matter that he lives in Mt. Pleasant? Would the story be any more or less interesting if he was from Fairfield or Washington?

Is the Southeast Iowa Union perfect? It is not. Are you going to line up and pat us on the back for continuing a daily paper? You will not, nor do we expect you to. We know that we still have work to do, and we have the team to do it.

I can not say enough about your Union team. They also have a passion, and most certainly the talent, to produce a high quality newspaper. We could not ask for a better crew as we move forward with this new publication. Every person on our team is motivated by their own drive to make the paper successful. In addition, we are deepening our talent pool with two new reporters in the next few weeks.

We are not there yet, but we will be. We ask for your patience, your understanding and maybe a little tolerance as we continue to grow and improve your daily paper in southeast Iowa. We are working hard to provide you with a newspaper that you enjoy and count on. I hope that as we progress you will notice our passion shining through.