Friday, February 27, 2009

It was back in the dark ages of the mid-1980s. I was a student journalist in California and my future wife decided it was time for me to broaden my horizons and visit her NAU college town of Flagstaff. After we put the college paper to bed, we drove all through the night and finally arrived in Flag just as the sun was rising. For a California boy, used to surf and sand, Flagstaff was quite a culture shock. Instead of dry brush on the California hillsides, Flagstaff was embraced by acres of fragrant pines.

The morning air was fresh and crisp. A visit to the Lowell Observatory was rewarded by an early fall hailstorm that echoed off the domed metal roof. In the days to come, I would get my first exposure to the wonders of the Museum of Northern Arizona, the Skydome and the growing campus at NAU, great Mexican cuisine at the Kachina Restaurant, an inspiring vista from the Arizona Snowbowl, and side trips to Sedona, the Grand Canyon, Wupatki and other natural and human-created wonders throughout the region. My future wife had a plan. Someday, we would shift careers and eventually move to the Mountain.

Over the years, our professional journalism careers took us to newspapers large and small in California. From a weekly newspaper known as the Grunion Gazette in Long Beach to larger metro publications in the L.A. region. Through the years we always dreamed of moving to the area and would return each year on vacations spread throughout the seasons. We purchased a home in Flag with the hopes that we would one day be able say goodbye to our last renter and move into our dream home in the woods. We would soon bring our daughter to visits to Flag, leading to her decision to come to NAU to earn her business degree.

A variety of reasons always seemed to keep us tied to our California roots, from family to careers. But eventually the time would come when the stars were all aligned and we can now proudly call Flagstaff our home.

While we will certainly miss the old newspaper days — from the old Underwood typewriters, typesetting machines, reporters rushing out to get the news in time for the newspaper's afternoon and eventually morning deadline — the industry has dramatically changed. Instead of being in the newspaper business, those who survive are in the news business. Instead of meeting the consumer's need with a newspaper landing on the doorstep each morning, we must serve consumers through a multitude of products, from the web, to blogs, micro-published products, and news on the go available on handheld devices. Instead of just talking to readers, we must promote a two-way discussion through user-generated content.

It's a scary time for traditional journalists. But it's also an exciting time if you are willing to take the plunge, constantly adapt to new technologies and find way to provide quality content at this time when the traditional news industry is undergoing rapid downsizing. One thing that hasn't change is the consumer's need for news that matters to them. We hope you will join us in this journey of transition as we seek to open new lines of communications and create better community here in Flagstaff — our home.