Column: Oshkosh Northwestern editor bids farewell with a reminder of how important trust in local news is
Dear readers,
It has been a wonderful — if shorter than planned — journey.
If you haven’t seen, I will be moving into a regional editing role with the Appleton Post-Crescent. It’s an exciting opportunity for me, but it also fills me with sadness to leave this position in this community.
Thank you for welcoming me into Oshkosh when I moved here in June 2021 and knew not a soul besides my roommate and a couple co-workers. Thanks for letting me tell the stories of our community's business scene, from Day by Day Warming Shelter’s search for a permanent home (which finally happened — it welcomes its first guests Monday!) to how Interstate 41 has impacted Oshkosh’s business scene and everything in between.
If you are a business owner or any other person I’ve interviewed over the last two years, thank you for sharing your story with me. Whether opening, closing or moving, I’ve held your words carefully and tried to express them honestly.
There are many reasons we choose to become journalists (money and fame not among them), but for me the constant has been the gratifying sense of community connections, telling untold stories and getting to know the people who make our community’s heart beat. It’s what I missed most when I briefly left the industry in 2019, and what compelled me to return when I accepted the Streetwise business reporter position here in June 2021.
RELATED: Oshkosh, here's what to know as road work begins on these two streets, including closures
It started as a personal mission, but I’ve realized in the last two years that it should be the mission of journalists everywhere: Building trust and fostering relationships with readers has never been more important to news publications, a pillar of democracy.
When I joined the staff here, I felt the divide between our newsroom and the community we aim to serve. It was deep, and your distrust was not misplaced: As a corporate-owned newspaper that has seen staff cuts and lost resources, the local coverage you had come to expect from your local paper no longer met your expectations.
I understood that, and I tried in small ways to start building that trust, by showing up for events, covering as many local business updates as possible and, after being promoted to editor last August, by trying to get more local news into our paper, both digitally and in print.
There’s still a long way to go, but I’m hopeful Brandon Reid, the Northwestern's new editor, can help lead us there.
Gannett has also introduced a new Center for Community Journalism, which separates about 150 daily newspapers, including Oshkosh, and some weekly newsrooms under their own leadership and planning structure to provide support for journalists covering these communities, helping reporters focus on hyper-local, high-impact stories.
The center is just getting started, but I am hopeful when it is fully implemented that it will return the local coverage to you, dear readers, that you deserve and that a thriving democracy depends on.
MORE: Watch live from Madison: Pulitzer Prize winning journalists on how local news helps you
But, in the words of Tigger, “TTFN" — or, “ta ta for now.” My new role as a regional editor is still being finalized, but I will stay in touch with Oshkosh as part of our Fox Valley coverage. And, as a member of Propel Oshkosh and the Oshkosh Area Writers Club, you’ll still see me around.
Thank you for taking the time to read the Oshkosh Northwestern — whether it is following our election coverage, subscribing to our Oshkosh Streetwise business newsletter (which has been put on hiatus until Gannett fills that reporter position) or picking up an old-fashioned, hard copy of a newspaper at any time over the last nearly two years.
The journalism industry is still navigating this new digital landscape, but please don’t give up on local news; it has never been more important.
SUPPORT LOCAL JOURNALISM: Our subscribers make this coverage possible. Click to see The Northwestern's special offers at thenorthwestern.com/subscribe and download our app on the App Store or Google Play.
Katy Macek is the former editor of the Oshkosh Northwestern and currently a regional editor for the Appleton Post-Crescent. She can be reached at kmacek@gannett.com or on Twitter at @KatherineMacek.
This article originally appeared on Oshkosh Northwestern: Column: Oshkosh Northwestern editor bids farewell, support of local news
