Thread by @ltaford

Friday was my last day at the Tribune after 23 years. newspapers.com/clip/81264243/…

There’s a lot happening in journalism right now, and many reasons why local news, as a business, is failing. niemanlab.org/2020/12/the-re…

I hope after these initial buyouts, Tribune Publishing’s new owners take the long view, and realize they can grow their business by investing in their product. brandingmag.com/2011/09/03/pro…

I miss what we could do for our city, even our country, back when I started. And what Tribune papers could do together. caminobooks.com/collections/bi…

I’m not one of those to say that the old guard of newspaper leadership did nothing to try to respond to the web. @YoungOwen owenyoungman.com/2021/03/13/ctc…

@YoungOwen But today, if you’re not covering at least the most important events in your community, you’re not serving your readers, whether you’re a small weekly, a startup nonprofit news site, an NPR station or a big newspaper. knightfoundation.org/articles/5-rea…

@YoungOwen If people realize they can get their news elsewhere, they’ll go elsewhere. And if you don’t have the staff getting to know people in your community, then you might make a few years of profits, but you won’t be around in the long term.

@YoungOwen If a news organization doesn't reinvest in the newsroom and the product it’s selling—and the reporters who find the news—it won’t continue to have readers or viewers localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/research/news-…

@YoungOwen Keeping reporters and editors on a long-term basis, to keep the quality of your news high, requires paying them well and treating them well. niemanlab.org/2019/08/i-was-…

@YoungOwen In the end, even the marketplace of ideas is a marketplace—and if you’re a company trying to make money, your product--in this case, information—had better be the best it can be.

@YoungOwen In the communities you’re covering, you need to have people who can get to know that community and know it well. And who bring real diversity of background and viewpoints to your newsroom.

@YoungOwen Even our seemingly smaller articles can make a big difference in people’s lives. And reporting fairly and honestly on Chicago’s communities can bring news organizations real loyalty.

@YoungOwen If owners have the vision to keep employees, and expand the newsroom's reach rather than contract it, they can help us to keep doing good, important work. And they can make money doing it.

@YoungOwen It will be worth it. For those who remain at the Tribune, for our owners and for our communities.

@YoungOwen As I leave the Trib behind, I’m thankful for people like Richard H. Amberg Jr., Bern Colleran and Joe Reilly, who got me started in the business. And for @GregJaffe, who put me up in his museum apartment after I drove my $100 Chevy Malibu down US 41 to my first job @MGMAdvertiser

@YoungOwen @GregJaffe @MGMAdvertiser And I’m thankful for Paul Zimbrakos and @daHaar and all the other City Newsers who taught me so much, like @dionnesearcey and @ChaseJohn and @John_Tuohy and @annweiler and so many others.

And I'm thankful @AMLwhere and @John_Kass took a chance on me. The Tribune reporters and editors I’ve worked with and who have helped me since then would fill a whole thread.

Real reporting can bring us together and inform us. I think it deserves to survive. Please subscribe.
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