Your professional background:

I started delivering the Hastings Tribune when I was 10 years old. Started as a sportswriter in 1983. Started selling advertising in 1989 for the Hastings Tribune. 1992 started writing sports for the Grand Island Independent and owned an advertising business. Became an advertising director for the Daily Iowegian in Centerville, Iowa. Moved to the Lincoln Journal Star in 1999 and became the advertising director at the Beatrice Daily Sun. I started with the Seward County Independent in 2004.

 

Why did you choose this business? 

I enjoyed  writing and telling stories. I am also competitive and advertising sales was a great way to use my

personality in the business world. I also enjoy dealing with different readers and people.

 

What do you like about the newspaper business?

What I like is that we get to inform people about our communities. I also like that we are the watchdog for our communities. I enjoy that our day and week is different every day.

 

How have you seen newspapers and the news business change over the years?

The biggest change is in the production part of putting newspapers together. And now how we present our news and the different ways that we need to get news to our readers.

 

What challenges have you seen affect both news and advertising?

Advertising has become tougher with more places to place ads with social media. But with that, businesses have a tough time deciding where they think is the best place. We have to educate the advertiser more and more to help them out. One challenge is deciding what our readers want to read. Readers are also much more fragmented with their news sources, and many of those sources are not trustworthy. The biggest challenges for both news and advertising is a person's time.

 

For those who say, print is dead or on its way out, what is your response?

Well, we have heard this for a long time. My response is where do many people go when they want to find information? It is to our newspaper or our website. I would also tell someone we still have people paying for our newspaper because there is value.

 

With the Baby Boomer generation aging, what do journalists/news business staff members need to be focusing on for the next generations?

I think newspapers need to focus on local news and what is important to their readers.

 

Some say newspapers are giving away too much free information online. What are your thoughts on that?

I think we have to find a middle of the road in what we give away free and still giving value to our print product. We need to be able to provide our readers with current, quick up-to-date information but supply those stories that keep people reading our paper.

 

What do small-town community newspapers such as the Seward County Independent look like in 10 years?

I think that newspapers will be still providing a print product and more online or digital news and advertising. I think smaller communities will have an advantage in providing local information and stories to the community. I think larger population areas will even do less for smaller communities in the future because they don't see the value.

 

What sections, stories or ads do you think have been most successful in catching attention in the last few years?

I think our Veterans Section is one of the best we do because it involves community interaction and informs our readers about a very important part of our history which involves local members who are  veterans. I think pages and section which are more unique to our communities are more important.