From the Publisher

I’m happy to report that a crisis I mentioned a few weeks ago in the newspaper industry has been averted. 

Two weeks ago, I told you about the Tri-County Reporter in Springtown and Azle. I said they were closing their doors and that the owner was ready to walk away. 

Well, it turns out that’s not the case. They found a buyer—a local family from the community who recognized the value of a vibrant hometown newspaper. 

They stepped up, kept the doors open and ensured the paper didn’t miss a single deadline. The presses kept rolling.

The new owners are ready to dig in and do the hard work. From all accounts, it seems community journalism is alive and well in Parker, Wise and Tarrant counties. 

We wish our new friends there the best of luck. I’ve already reached out to them to offer support. This is another community journalism success story, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

***

I read a banned book over the weekend—mostly on Sunday. I devoured it in a single day. 

I read it all the way through and then did some research on the author— someone I’d never heard of before. I wanted to know more about their work.

I learned the book I had just finished was first banned by some affluent school districts in Central Texas and then in other places across the nation.

I read their reasoning behind the ban and— having just finished the book— I couldn’t understand why someone might be offended by it. 

The notion hadn’t dawned on me. It seemed almost funny. 

But this isn’t the first banned book I’ve read, and it probably won’t be the last. I have read others like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Catcher and the Rye,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Of Mice and Men” and “The Holy Bible.” 

If you’re interested in a good book recommendation, send me an email.

***

I was out of town most of last week for my day job. Each spring, I take a group of university students to the College Media Association convention in New York City. 

It’s an annual gathering of college journalists and faculty advisors from across the country. 

For three days in Times Square, students and faculty learn best practices from some of the brightest minds in the business. It’s an amazing opportunity for our students.

This year was no different. 

As has become tradition, when you take a trip with Lewter, you get an inside tour of The New York Times newsroom. 

I have an old friend who works there, and he’s incredibly generous with his time and knowledge. 

My friend and I met 15 years ago when he was a grad student at TCU, and I had just started my first job stint as managing editor at a weekly newspaper. 

I had no idea that our chance encounter back then would still be impacting us—and others—15 years later.

It reminds me of another encounter I had about 20 years ago when I met a guy at a bar. 

I was the bartender. I also worked days as a freelance journalist.

He was the evening news anchor at the local TV station, new to town and not much older than me. 

I recognized him from TV and made a point to introduce myself. 

All these years later, we’re still friends. He’s now a regional executive at one of the largest broadcast companies in the nation, overseeing multiple television stations from coast to coast. 

Despite his busy schedule, he still takes time to help my students and me.

Last spring, I introduced him to a student. He got to know her and provided a reference for her job application. 

Today, she’s anchoring the five o’clock news at a mid-market TV station in West Texas. Not bad for a first job.

Then there’s the guy I met years ago in East Texas. 

I talked to him about renting a house he owned. He didn’t become my landlord, but he did become my friend. 

Later, I hired him at the newspaper. 

When I left, he took over running the paper. We worked together again some years later. 

Eventually, we bought our first newspaper together. Because of that chance encounter a dozen years earlier, we developed a friendship that led to saving one of the oldest newspapers in Texas from closing.

I share all this to say: no meeting is ever truly by chance. 

I tell my students that you never know how a chance encounter might change your life—or the lives of others—for years to come. 

Don’t take those meetings for granted. Work to develop those relationships daily. You never know the lives that can be impacted by two people meeting in a bar.