Well dear readers, the time has come for us to accept that it's going to take us a while to find a new permanent Editor for this newspaper, given the current labor shortage in our industry, and many others. For eight months now we've been searching, and unfortunately the search has not yet found the right candidate.
All that while, we've been renting our old office space in Clarion – and paying to heat it, even as heating costs have soared – as well as for all the other utilities, just for the office to sit vacant. Meanwhile, with some staff working from home and others working from our Eagle Grove office, we've continued to put out the Monitor every week, and will continue to do so.
And so, as a common sense cost saving measure, the decision has been made to close the old office in Clarion, until such time as a new Editor is hired. Then, the plan is to open a new office for the Monitor in Clarion.
Historic archives preserved
During the move, the full archives of the Wright County Monitor were carefully relocated to the Eagle Grove office. Some historic photos and old design elements, such as the paper advertisement graphics and clip-art that was once used to assemble the paper the old-fashioned way, were also relocated. Along with the archives of the Eagle Grove Eagle, the archives of the Wright County Monitor are safely stored in a climate controlled space within the Eagle Grove Eagle's office.
Lots of jobs open
Now would be an excellent time for anyone seeking to break into the exciting and important journalism business in Wright County to contact us. Not only is the Monitor hiring for a new Editor, but both the Monitor and the Eagle Grove Eagle are also hiring for full or part time sports reporters. And there are also graphic design, sales, and office opportunities available with our publisher, Mid-America Publishing and Printing of Hampton, Iowa.
A dream job for many, the news business gives reporters a front row seat to the history of their time. News reporters get to meet and interview fascinating and important people. Sports reporters essentially have season tickets and front row seats for every sport, all the time.
Newspaper staffers are pillars of the community. Their work helps to keep local government accountable to the people, helps to document the lives of the people of the community, gives businesses a reliable, effective means by which to reach consumers, and is vital in emergency situations where information needs to be gotten out. Their work is important, and respected.
And right now is the right time for the right people to get their start! Experience is welcome, but for candidates with the right aptitudes, not necessary. If you have the raw talent, we'll train you, and help you expand your skills.
Huge opportunity for growth, entrepreneurism
Over the past few decades, facing disruptions to their business model caused by the digital and internet revolutions, tens of thousands of newspapers around the country have gone out of business. Which have left what experts are calling "news deserts" – communities, and even whole counties without any local news publishers – in their wake.
But many other local news publications have managed to survive, and adapt. Those publications, including the Wright County Monitor and the Eagle Grove Eagle, have found ways to streamline operations and stay profitable, and in print. Which form a blueprint which other publishers can follow.
And in the wake of tens of thousands of newspaper closures across America in the past two decades, there is an unfilled need in the tens of thousands of communities which have lost their local news coverage. And that creates a tremendous opportunity for companies like Mid-America Publishing, and independent entrepreneurs as well, to open up new local news publications. Creating a lucrative business for themselves while bringing local news coverage back to the tens of thousands of communities which have lost it.
As a result, there's a very real opportunity for today's news business rookies to become tomorrow's veteran reporters, newspaper editors, and publishers, as the resurgence of local news publishing plays out in the years to come. Whether working steady jobs for publishers which own multiple newspapers, or for independent publishers, or for themselves AS independent publishers, those who start now to develop the skills that will be needed then, will be in the prime position to take advantage of those opportunities.
Now is your chance to get started on the ground floor. Interested parties should email news@eaglegroveeagle.com.
