Missouri Press Association
Serving Missouri Newspapers Since 1867
Where in the state are you located? Harrisonville, serving Cass and Bates counties.
Circulation of newspaper: 2,300. Website has about 2,500 subscribers.
Number of issues per week/publication day: Weekly on Thursdays
Number of full-time and part-time staff: Five full-time, three part-time
Who owns the newspaper? We are locally owned by two businessmen, John Foster and Scott Friedrich; my wife, Leslie; and me.
Population of the town and county: Harrisonville 10,000;
Cass County 110,000; Bates County 16,000
Is the town growing, declining, or holding steady? While the county is growing, Harrisonville is holding steady.
Your greatest challenge: The post office. We lose about 10 percent of our subscription base every year simply because of papers not being delivered. It doesn’t hurt as much locally because we have seen retail gains, but out-of-town people simply don’t renew subscriptions.
Newspaper’s biggest strength: We have a dedicated reader base and good working relationships with local governments and organizations. We know the area well.
Newspaper’s biggest weakness or obstacle to overcome: We are now the newspaper serving four markets which previously had their own newspapers, so finding a way to make sure everyone feels like we are their local paper and balancing content for various cities/schools as well as a very diverse demographic that ranges from very rural to upper-middle-class suburban.
Your family: My wife, Leslie, and I married in October of last year. I have an adult son, Derek.
If you weren’t an editor or a publisher, what do you think you would be doing? Years ago when things would get stressful I would say “I’m going to quit and get a job selling shoes at the mall.” I might have been a good shoe salesman.
Your hobbies/interests: First: I am a Kansas City Royals fan. But I accidentally stumbled on a new hobby a couple years ago. I have been in journalism for so long that I don’t really get “starstruck” or “in awe” of very many people. Two years ago I did a story about the Christmas-Con sponsored by Hallmark in Kansas City. While I was there I met a few of the “celebrities” who were on hand and really enjoyed just meeting them and chatting about TV or movie characters. Since then I have attended a few fan conventions in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma. I’m still not starstruck, but I do enjoy getting to meet the actors as a fan, not a reporter.
List something that is interesting or unusual about you: I like to tell people I appeared in a porno. When I was in college I saw a group of people heading down a hill so I wondered what was up and I followed them. I found a group of people gathered around with a big movie camera and lights ─ the whole set up.
They were filming a movie called “Linda Lovelace for President” and this crowd of people was supposedly listening to her speak. The funny thing was, she wasn’t there; they just took shots of us in the crowd and then superimposed her in later. But, if you find the right screen grab there is a promotional picture where she is there speaking and I am standing right over her shoulder.
What is your favorite journalism accomplishment? I probably should have a specific story or two that really stand out, but really my favorite accomplishment comes when I pick up a copy of the paper each week. Even though I’ve spent a week writing and editing, there is still a great sense of satisfaction when you see the final result in print.
That appreciation is even stronger on weeks when we put out a paper that has “it” in it. The “it” is that story that people appreciate, or breaks news or puts out information that is necessary for our readers to know.
It’s special to know when you put out a paper that was worthy of the lives of the trees it took to be printed.
