Jill's Journal: The ‘new kid on the block’
Although my career in community journalism has spanned more than three decades, as the publisher/editor of the Brandon Valley Journal, I still consider myself as one of the “new kids on the block.”
Now in our fifth year of publication, that feeling stems from the very first South Dakota Newspaper Association convention that I’ll be heading off to later this week. It’s an event I’ve long been waiting to take in, not only for the “shameless getaway” to a ritzy resort in the Black Hills of South Dakota, but more for rubbing elbows with those in the weekly newspaper industry such as myself. These folks and I live much of the same lives. We attend city council and school board meetings, write about exciting sewer and water projects, click away at games on our cameras from the sidelines in hopes of getting just the right photo for how the game is going. We have multiple opportunities to tell readers about interesting people in our communities and introduce them to who’s running for whatever office in whatever election year.
And we do this week in and week out, all because of our love for what we do and who we do it for – the cherished readers of our community weekly newspapers.
As editor of other weekly newspapers in the Sioux Falls metro area, I’ve attended multiple conventions in the past, but never bearing the title of “publisher.” If I’m honest, the real draw to the convention was the anticipated announcement of award winners from the SDNA’s annual Better Newspaper Contest.
But those awards were announced earlier this year via a Zoom presentation, in which the BV Journal fared quite well by bringing home double-digit awards in a variety of categories.
Although the coronavirus pandemic cancelled the 2020 convention and delayed this year’s to October, I’m eager to learn more. These conventions always present new ideas for stories and photos, layout and design, new streams of revenue and some of those not-so-thrilling subjects like updates to postal forms and other “paperwork” that I honestly despise.
And while I consider myself the “new kid on the block” in my role as publisher/editor of the Brandon Valley Journal, after 16 years of sharing my craft with you all here in the greater Brandon Valley community, I can honestly say that I feel like an “old-timer.” In the near two-decades since I came to Brandon, in both stories and photos, I’ve documented so many milestones, like our very first state championships, ribbon cuttings, the opening of new business endeavors, new roads and housing developments. And the story behind all of these amazing accomplishments have come from true passion from the people behind the scenes making it happen.
That’s what makes my job a great job for this “new kid on the block” with an “old-timer” connection.
Congratulations to our Lynx sports teams and the Marching Lynx
The competitions seasons have come to an end for the Marching Lynx, the boys’ and girls’ soccer teams, the Lady Lynx tennis team and the BV boys’ golf team, the latter two of which turned in some of their best efforts at their respective state tournaments. Congratulations to all of you on a season well done, and thanks for taking us all along on the ride!
