FROM THE EDITOR
It’s been nine months since I took over the editorial content of this paper, its website and social media sites (www.Aroundosceola.com, Facebook.com/osceola newsgazette, Twitter @AroundOsceola and @OsceolaSports, if I need to tell you).
It’s felt like nine days. We’ve had some great stories (and not so great ones) to tell, and I feel like we’ve been telling them the best we can.
Each week, I find interesting or in-depth stories I want to work on. In past lives I was a sports reporter here, then a news reporter, then the sports editor. I find myself relearning and re-energized covering news again, be it what’s going on with our local government boards, non-profits, schools and community groups.
Writing the stories comes easy. Bringing the paper all together? That’s been a work-in-progress, drinking-from-the-firehose thing.
I know my freelance writers and I don’t get to cover everything we’d like — or we probably should. But I’m hearing more good things about the things we are doing and covering. And I’m grateful for every comment, good or bad. One of my favorite sayings is, “The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s apathy. When people stop giving a damn, that’s when I worry.”
I’ve also heard a few versions of this: “That Ken, I see his name all over the paper. When does he find the time?”
To answer the question, I work smarter instead of harder, I plan my work, then work the plan (Until news breaks on a Tuesday afternoon, then we tear up the plan!).
As for writing these stories, I don’t really mind. My boss-ladies probably won’t like to hear this, but I’m still much more of a reporter than an editor. I don’t realize the level of stories I’ve written in a given week until we start putting the print product together each week, and I see my name as many times on the front page.
I get a lot of calls and emails about potential stories, as well as the new stream of Letters to the Editor. It’s great — keep them coming.
Would you like to write? I have room in the stable of freelance writers. Next question: if you’ve done it in the past, would you like to cover news events around the county?
I get it— features are fun, but covering news means getting your fingernails dirty a bit and delving into issues. If you have a curious brain about why things run the way they do around here, I want to pick that brain. If you want to share in the fun, whimsy, the glory and the afterglow — okay, I may have oversold it just a little — shoot me a note, editor@ osceolanewsgazette.com, “That’s one ‘Z’ and two ‘T’s.”
Join an established stable of News-Gazette freelance reporters — here’s a shout-out to Terry Lloyd, Lisa Goldmacher and Dan Pearson, as well as a few other occasional contributors from the Osceola Council on Aging and UF-IFAS/Osceola County Extension Services — there’s room on the front page for you right next to my name.
CLOSING THOUGHT: So how’s your NCAA bracket? I only ask to feel better about my mostlybusted one. Go Kansas! Rock Chalk Jayhawk!
