Blogs » To venus and back » Celebrating 15 years of newspaper print, with cake

Subscribe


 
Celebrating 15 years of newspaper print, with cake
By adriana_acosta in To venus and back
January 5, 2011

I look forward to Thursday mornings. That’s the morning I see our final product in print. Carrying a few bundles of papers to the front of the office, cutting the thick plastic wrap and getting to look at the paper to me is like running downstairs to the Christmas tree and opening gifts on Christmas day. I guess you can say every Thursday is Christmas in my book.

A sense of satisfaction and pride is what I feel each time I look at the paper. And it’s not just about the articles itself; it’s about the spacing between articles, the lines, the borders in the photos and even the skybox. Things that I am sure people don’t pay much attention to.

This year, we are celebrating 15 years. To some who have been in the newspaper business for a while, this may be a speck of dust. To me, it is a great accomplishment. And even though I have only been a part of this paper for a year, it feels like I have grown and evolved with it as well.

I came to this paper with only two years experience, having been only a part-time reporter at a newspaper from South Texas.

So I was on my own here. Making the editorial decisions and writing what needed to be told.

This year, we made some minor but noticeable changes – for the better and the response has been great.

In recent weeks, I have been in the newspaper morgue, looking through old copies of the Matagorda Advocate.

This is really the backroom of our office, but we have about a decade worth of newspapers.

We also have the very first copy of our paper framed and on display at the office. In the morning when I am walking up to my desk, I look at the newspaper, smile and thank those people I have never met, that made this paper possible.

(Maybe I am showing my true colors.)

I am happy to be a part of a newspaper family that have thrived and succeeded. In a time where social media and Internet has taken over our lives, it is amazing to know that in a time when “newspapers are dying” our readers look forward to picking up our paper.

If you asked me what it was that I was doing 15 years ago, I probably would look at you in confusion. But if you were to ask the owners of the Victoria Advocate, the Roberts family had a vision.

I have not lost faith in this business and never will.

This year we plan to celebrate, and big, after all, we only turn 15 once.