Things will just have to be different from now on

Phil Cobb Glasses

It’s a difficult time at the Maryville Daily Forum for more reasons than one.

We find ourselves in the wake left behind by a legend.

But even before we lost Jim Fall, we were struggling to find the necessary personnel to publish a five-day daily newspaper.

I don’t want this to turn into a boohoo, poor-us piece — I’m not asking for sympathy.

But this is as much your newspaper as it is mine — the thing was around for 100 years before I was born — so it’s important that our readers share, and are made aware, of not only the good times, but the not-so-good times.

This is one of those not-so-good times.

The loss of Jim has left a giant void in more ways than we can even understand.

It’s not a void that can ever be filled — we won’t even try.

Things will never be the same, they’ll just have to be different, and we’ll just have to accept that.

Sure, we can still put out a newspaper, we know how to make that happen.

But as one reader put it, “it’s the nuances” that will be missed the most.

I think a lot of people thought that Jim just kind of hung out around the newspaper office, writing his weekly column, giving people a hard time, and providing comic relief.

To observe him, that’s what you would think — he made it look so easy.

But what I don’t think many people realized, is that he was a consistent daily contributor to the day-to-day operations of this newspaper.

He was a human story-idea-generating machine.

And if someone wasn’t available to do the story, he would generally do it, usually gravitating toward weather-, agriculture-, and employment-related topics.

It was a daily occurrence for Jim to march into the office with camera in hand, declaring in the most confident tone, “Front page photo right here.”

He regularly scouted the town and surrounding area for photo opportunities, and he had a keen eye for recognizing newsworthy subjects.

Plus, he was dripping with wisdom and experience.

I’ve already caught myself several times thinking for a split second, “I need to ask Jim what he thinks about this.”

I never realized before how much I sought his approval on almost everything I did.

So, needless to say, this is the end of an era at the Maryville Daily Forum.

And I believe it symbolizes the end of an era across the board in the small town newspaper business.

I can’t believe — and this is not only true for the newspaper business, but throughout our society — that there has ever been a time in history when we have lost so much from previous generations.

I think we are — unsuccessfully, by the way — trying to replace the knowledge, wisdom, understanding, “nuances,” of previous generations with the ease and convenience of technology.

Sure, you can Google it, and most times find the information you are looking for.

But did you live it? Did you experience it? Did it stick?

Or did your oversaturated mind treat it as disposable and move on to the next Google search.

Our society, and especially this industry, are no longer creating men like Jim Fall.

We will all be the lesser for it.

It doesn’t mean this can’t still be a great newspaper, and it doesn’t mean that there isn’t some 20-something-year-old, want-to-be journalist out there who won’t turn out to be great.

Things will never be the same. They’ll just have to be different.

We can’t wrap our arms so tightly around the past that we don’t have a free hand to reach out toward the future.

What does this mean, and what do the days ahead hold in store for your local daily newspaper?

I can’t say for sure, but what I can tell you is that we are exhausting each and every avenue to ensure that Maryville has a great newspaper for years to come.

The number one thing is that it is going to take people — qualified, competent, knowledgeable people.

We desperately need people, and we are finding it extremely difficult to find qualified people to work in our newsroom.

If you, or someone you know, has experience working in a similar setting, give us a call.

And, yes, it does need to be experience working for an actual newspaper.

Please don’t apply for my managing editor position, simply because you used to have a job that had the word “manager” in its title.

Please don’t apply for a reporter position just because you have your own blog and you like to write about your cat, or because you write for some website that no one has ever heard of.

I’ve seen enough of that.

So, I guess the reason for this piece is to inform you of the state of your local daily newspaper.

After all, we are only temporary stewards.

Please bear with us as we navigate through this period of transition.