“Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” —Thomas Jefferson
I came across this quote as I was cleaning out my PRT files, sorting through them to see what should be tossed and what might be worth keeping. I couldn’t agree with Old Tom more, especially after the year we’ve just lived through. Never has it been more crucial for us to stay informed about what is going on locally, regionally and nationally.
I don’t remember who handed me this scrap of paper with Jefferson’s words. It could have been Donna Reibslager, who, nine years and 90 issues of the PRT ago, put her faith in me to continue this bold experiment in local news gathering that she and
Walter Andrew had brought into existence in 2009. Or it could have been Ann Katzenbach, my predecessor, whose kindness and support showed me how to do this big job.
Or, I don’t know, maybe it came from a reader. My inbox has seen a constant flow of comments, contributions, suggestions, praise, and occasionally criticisms from our readers, which has been a source of great pride (and sometimes amusement) for me over the past nine years. Our success as a local news organization stems in large part, I believe, from the fact that our readers feel a strong sense of ownership of the PRT.
This was my vision from the start, but it was a group effort that accounts for the PRT’s continued presence here in the eastern side of the county. Extraordinary people live here and many of them, past and present, have worked hard to grow the paper. I have been lucky enough to work with the likes of Laura Wenzel, Janie Trafton, Aisha Sander, Cynie Murray, Nisa Talavera and Priscilla Bolanos. Without their creativity, knowledge and dedication, the PRT would not have thrived. Special thanks go out to Assistant Editor Jay Babcock who has gone above and beyond, especially this past year, to keep the PRT going as I have been dealing with ongoing health concerns.
When I first took over this job, every month I would let out a huge sigh of relief that we had pulled off another issue. We put out the March issue, but who knew if there might be an April issue? But our band of volunteer writers would show up month after month, come up with news stories, do the hard work of chasing down leads and telling our community’s stories.
Without the dedication and guidance of the PRT Board of Directors, the PRT would most definitely not have survived. We all owe them a debt of gratitude for their confidence in the crazy idea that a newspaper written by volunteer citizen journalists would be a sustainable model.
And obviously we couldn’t have done this work without our readers, sponsors, and loyal advertisers who have supported the PRT with their donations and patronage, keeping the PRT available to all our residents at no cost for the past 16 years.
I am sure the PRT has an exciting future ahead. In a perfect world, I would continue to steer this ship forward, but it is time for me to step away from my role as managing editor. This is my last issue as editor, although I hope to keep writing for the paper.
I am not worried about the future of the PRT. The Board has hired a new editor to continue our mission: Pilar Martinez, who comes to us with a strong background in journalism, having worked for the Associated Press, AZ Daily Star and the Tucson Citizen. She also worked for 25 years for the Univ of Arizona in a number of roles, including Senior Director of Strategic Communications. I look forward to seeing where the paper goes from here under her leadership.
Life takes you down some unexpected paths. Back in 2017, when Ann Katzenbach called me to ask if I would join the PRT board, I blurted out, “No thank you to the board. I want to be the editor.” No idea where that came from. I hadn’t given it any conscious thought, but it felt right, even though I took the job the same week that I submitted my paperwork for Medicare.
I imagined the job to be one I could do in my pajamas, eating bonbons. How hard could correcting people’s grammar be anyway?
I was quickly disabused of that notion as I realized that I was now responsible for not only content, but layout, marketing, fundraising and all the back-of-the-house operations. There was a steep learning curve. I gained ten pounds in a month, and my computer called me “Ann” for the next year.
For the past nine years I have been driven by my firm belief in the importance of the PRT in our local landscape. It has required my daily attention, even while Frank and I gained three more grandchildren, built a new house, bought cows and chickens, and are dealing with illnesses we never imagined we would have to face.
Things did not always go to plan. I realized early on that I really didn’t know what a bonbon was exactly and I had to make do with bags of spice drops from Tractor Supply. And marching around in my pajamas scared the cows, so that was out.
But what I had not expected was the feeling of pride and accomplishment every month when we sent the paper to the printers or when I saw people lined up to grab the latest issue from a newsbox. I didn’t realize how honored I would feel to be able to share our area’s stories, and to work with, and get to know, people with such passion for our communities, talented writers and dedicated board members.
It’s been a big job, but I am so proud of all that we have accomplished together.