"You can't go home again" - Thomas Wolfe

It's almost sad that people are celebrating the "new" Morris newspaper so much. What I mean is, it's sad we went through such a prolonged period where people didn't feel that way. The transition causes numerous memories to pass through my head.
I invested a considerable portion of my life to the community press. What would it be like to return now? It wouldn't be nearly the same just because of shrinkage of the product. Much of the shrinkage would no doubt have happened even if we hadn't passed through such a forgettable phase of the paper's history.
There was a time in America when owning a community paper was the ticket to pretty substantial financial reward. Just consider one of the main benefactors of the University of Minnesota-Morris. I am an extension of that because I worked for this family for many years and now I too am a U benefactor. There are fewer old-timers around with direct connections to UMM's origins. The LaFave House is a reminder of the seminal times. And this coming Tuesday, new U of M President Joan Gabel will be visiting there. How privileged we are in Morris to have these kind of connections.
The transition in newspaper ownership causes considerable reflection by yours truly. While on the subject of UMM, let me note that in complete contrast to today, there was a time when UMM's PR outreach was token. This is not a criticism. It was probably a logical state of affairs for the pre-digital times. How this affected me? UMM's reporting on its own affairs was much less developed than today. Let's just say that in sports, which like it or not is a focal point for evaluating the community press, the self-reporting was nil.
Again this is not to bash UMM from that earlier time. UMM knew how to serve its own interests. A legitimate criticism could have been made that UMM should enhance its PR outreach. But it didn't seem a huge issue. Our new age means by necessity that UMM has highly-developed PR and reporting outreach on its own platforms. I don't know if the Morris newspaper is welcome to just take stuff from UMM's website and publish it. The argument could be made that the paper ought not be allowed to ride piggy-back with that.
The central point here is that in our new age, an institution like UMM can operate its own media product that serves its interests independent of any newspaper. My newspaper career was when the paper had its entitled position of being go-to for any and all news, and if we failed it wasn't as if anyone else could pick up the slack. People could complain, sometimes vociferously, but we didn't need to adjust.
Today the radio station has a website that is a viable news and communications platform, on a footing that could well be equal to the paper's website.
What about my two personal blogs? There may be times when my own writing carries as much relevance as it ever did. People could argue "well, you don't get paid." Well, so what? That's a separate question from the kind of reach one's writing can actually have in the digital age. The effectiveness is all that really matters, if you just want to weigh journalism.
We still have our biases rooted in pre-digital times, of how money has to change hands for journalism or any creative works to be put in front of the mass public. Cut out those old biases. The new world has assaulted the privileged position that newspapers had.
The Morris paper has taken a number of hits in terms of sheer quantity of product. It's a weekly now, was twice-weekly in the Morrison days. The Forum of Fargo reduced the page size more than once - stupid - but it's nice to see the Anfinsons have boosted the size. I noticed that right away. A theory on the smaller size: the corporate owners, I think were influenced by "studies" (as they were wont to be) about people at bus or subway stations who wanted a more compact size of the publication - easier to handle. But of course a community paper exists in a different world from that.
So even though I absolutely wanted to "survive" at the paper, I could not deny my own senses or brain. To apply judgment. In a parallel way we Americans may be awakening in a belated way to the outrageousness of our President Donald Trump. I don't ever want to be sent to a "re-education camp" but I cannot resist criticizing the president with vigor, and have done so since Day 1.
 
Married to journalism
I spent 15 years of my newspaper career generating two pages of sports for the Hancock Record every week. Sometimes it was a page and a half, occasionally just one page, but much of the time it was two full pages with maybe an ad on the second page. But I remember many times when there was no ad at all. And today? The Hancock newspaper doesn't even exist.
I remember that in my days of van driving for the Morrisons, Friday was a very demanding day because I'd go to Quinco of Lowry and load the Ad-Viser. So full was the van, I'd get teased about whether there'd be room for me in it. And today? The Ad-Viser (the free shopper) doesn't exist.
I spent much of my career "fighting" with the analog systems for photography. It was very Rube Goldberg-ish. And today? All that fuss has been completely wiped out by digital. My memories of newspaper work are from a time that might as well be preserved in amber - it's prehistoric.
Advertising circulars? I used to haul the boxes of Pamida and Shopko fliers to the printing plant every week. I used to haul the big heavy boxes of Thrifty White coupon books. Today? Shopko is gone with the wind and Thrifty White is just a tiny pharmaceutical store.
I left the Morris paper in an ignoble way in June of 2006. I elected not to take the family to the county fair that year because I'd be bombarded by questions about why I left the paper. Like me or not, people were curious. So I went to the Appleton fair instead, rather an underwhelming event - cover charge too - and found that a significant number of people approached me there. For a long time the family and I had our Sunday afternoon buffet lunch in Cyrus, so as to get away from people a little. And then the Cyrus cafe closed. Indeed, bricks and mortar is under assault.
 
Whither newspapers?
I respect what Reed Anfinson has to say about how papers play a distinctive role in a community's awareness of issues. I might politely demur and suggest again that the world wide web really can do the job, and it just takes time for the new "ecosystem" to take hold.
As I made my rounds after leaving the paper, I had a prepared answer re. my move, made up of three parts as I recall. I can't remember them clearly now. Maybe I should have just told people I left the paper because of "philosophical issues" - that old line. Yes, I favored Nietzsche while management liked Kierkegaard. Rimshot.
My speculation about the background of the Morris newspaper sale appears spot-on. This is according to a Central Minnesota newspaper publisher, a friend of mine and someone who is in the know. He complimented me recently. A quote from an email from this gentleman: "I have learned very interesting first-hand knowledge of the SC Times sale from Fargo to the Anfinson group. What I'll say is that basically every single last hunch or suspicion you're had about Fargo was all true." 
Fan mail from some flounder. This "fan" was very pleased when I informed him I had visited the newspaper office to welcome Shelly Anfinson. It might not have been a big deal to her, but it was a big deal to me.
How will the new ownership fare? We all extend the most sincere well-wishing, no doubt. However, the "old days" will never be restored. I'm old enough to have been influenced by Watergate back in the day. (I'm cynical, wink.)
My Medicare card takes effect on January 1. I have had no health insurance for the last 15 years. So I have gotten some breaks. Problem is, when I finally see a doctor, who knows what will be discovered? My fear is that I could be told to eat nothing but alfalfa for the rest of my life. Rimshot.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com