Original views on life from rural America

Over the weekend, Scott and I attended the annual Nebraska Press Association convention in Lincoln.

Trust me, it’s one convention we likely won’t forget.

Imagine being in a room with 100 other individuals when 100 cell phones start blaring the emergency warning due to a tornado warning in Lancaster County. We were already in the lower level of the Cornhusker, so the session we were in continued.

When the speaker wrapped up her presentation, we mostly remained in the basement, networking with colleagues or bonding with members of the Northwestern softball team, who were waiting to head to the stadium once the all clear signal was given.

A few of us ventured outside, checking out storm clouds and checking social media for damage reports. Once a reporter, always a reporter.

As footage from Waverly and Elkhorn came in, we prayed for safety for those in the path and learned our cousin’s home, in Elkhorn, was destroyed. Skyler, wife Laura and their three children were unharmed, but the house they made a home is gone, except for a wall of kitchen cupboards. We can’t imagine what it would be like to lose everything in a natural disaster, having to pick up the remnants that remained and start over.

During the convention, we were fortunate to listen to great speakers, who shared solid ideas about building circulation and revenue, talked about photography and editorial ideas and provided encouragement. One speaker in particular gave us a lot to ponder. We continue to work on strategies from that workshop and will hopefully have details ironed out so we can share with readers next week.

We networked with longtime newspaper friends and met several new publishers and writers. Honestly, having time to talk with colleagues is one of the best parts of the weekend. As a fellow publisher told us, “We’re all in the same boat.” Of course he said that while we were all stuck in the basement ...

And, we are grateful for our staff members who share their time and talents with our readers. Several members received awards in the 2023 Better Newspaper Contest. Truthfully, we have a love/hate relationship with awards. While we love receiving feedback from judges, we don’t feel it’s necessary to submit a photo or news story for the sake of filling a quota. We’re strategic about what we submit. And, this year, about 40% of items we entered earned an award.

Now, it’s back to work, map out a plan with new ideas and keep producing the quality journalism our readers and communities deserve.