I have been a newspaper reporter for the Star Journal for close to five years but I have been in the media business for more than 25. I don’t think there has been any business that has endured technology changes more abruptly than newspapers however. Ten years ago no one even knew what a blog was and not so many years before that the Internet was only a figment of someone’s imagination. But to survive we must adjust and so here I am-writing a blog.

My beat covers a wide range including the Oneida County board, writing stories about local people of interest, interviewing local business people and the food column, to name a few. I feel like I have a pretty good take on the pulse of Rhinelander and neighboring communities. Some people might consider that being nosy, but hey… it all boils down to keeping you, our readers, informed.

And I have learned a few things being in this business for so many years. For instance a good newspaper reporter knows how to keep their mouth shut. Afterall, you don’t get stories by telling them, but rather by letting others tell theirs. That means you have to develop very good active listening skills. And believe me, what I hear sometimes inwardly makes me gasp or moan and many times laugh.

A well written news story will give you the facts in an unbiased and informative narrative. I always feel good when someone asks me what my opinion is after I write a hard news story. That means I did not show a prejudice or bias while writing about a subject. And there have been times when I myself have read a story and wondered what the reporter’s real opinion was on the subject.

So this blog of mine will let you in on what I think when I attend meetings or other local events. Sometimes these discourses will be opinionated indeed and I imagine a lot will be pretty humorous because that’s just my nature, but whatever they are, I hope they make you think, or laugh or even spur you on to leave a comment. They tell me that’s what blogging is all about. Thanks for reading and keep logging on. You just never know what might be next!