Reflecting on a year that offered much news to cover and many choices for our readers

I’m urging anyone who comes across The News & Observer to spend time with us, especially this coming week when many of y’all are gathered with family and friends.

The holidays are a great time to catch up on reading while reflecting on the past year.

Plus, I’m giving you holiday cover.

‘Tis the season to remember why some of us purposely live far away from relatives.

So, when the holiday after-dinner conversation turns to politics or sports and then gets loud because everyone is shouting and no one is listening — tell your self-grandeur loved ones that the local newspaper editor has given you a reading assignment.

Go through The N&O staff’s reflections of 2023 and see if we connected with your own memories of the past year.

Barbecue and ice cream

Perhaps we touch on something that directly affected you. Or maybe we elicit an oh-yeah-that-happened nod. (At minimum, you’ll come away wanting to argue the state of North Carolina barbecue or yearning for chocolate chess pie disguised as ice cream.)

The N&O’s end-of-year impact report is becoming one of our favorite annual productions because it personifies the news-gathering process reflective of how Triangle residents react to the news.

This paragraph from the report explains why the project is meaningful to The N&O staff and hopefully you: We asked all our reporters, photojournalists and editors to reflect on the things they will remember long after 2023 is over. It’s a selection of stories and images as varied as life itself — important, joyful, funny, somber, touching, beautiful, heartbreaking and silly.

I appreciate how Managing Editor Thad Ogburn takes on this special impact report like someone organizing a community holiday event. He checks the story list often and makes sure everyone — including his boss — knows that end-of-year stories need to be filed BEFORE the end of the year.

When Thad asked if I’d contribute to the report, I pulled executive editor privilege and said mine would become a Sunday column.

This is where I correct myself.

One, executive editor privilege sounds like an awesome thing! I should ask Santa for it. (Or maybe I’ll ask Santa for a pair of Gripper Slippers from Bombas because my feet get cold on wood floors during the winter months. Yes, definitely going with the slipper-socks because it’s at least real.)

Two, it’s confession time. I don’t have a defining moment for 2023.

2023 was like a fancy Sunday brunch

However, I’ll remember the year much like a fancy Sunday brunch — so many choices, so many reasons to go through the line again and again.

Oh, there are stories and events that pop up.

For some reason, Josh Shaffer’s first-person account of the Blue Ridge Snorkeling Trail is one of those brain-camera moments. There’s a photo of Josh mask-first in a stream so shallow it barely covers his knees. Josh is a veteran journalist who could have given multiple reasons why this story was beneath him. Instead, he plunged into the shallowest abyss ever and found an adventure deep in smiles.

Or the day in May when Lord Stanley’s Cup visited The N&O’s newsroom, I’ll remember all those selfies, those smiles, those bonds. From my column that was less about Lord Stanley and more about workplace culture and community identity: There’s nothing ethically squishy about non-sports journalists being fans. We live in the Triangle; we root for the Canes (and other teams). It explains why the Cup’s visit was a distinctive moment for N&O colleagues, spouses, children and one father-in-law.

And there are the stories we can’t forget, such as the UNC shooting. It’s an unspoken code for journalists: We head to news scenes that the public should avoid, to watch over what the public wants to know.

The true privilege of being an executive editor is working with journalists who care deeply about the stories that affect your lives. Journalists who have fears but are fearless.

I also have a soft spot for y’all. For your trust. For your gentle — and firm — feedback. For believing in us.

Thank you, everyone.

Bill Church is executive editor of The News & Observer. If you believe in the importance of independent investigative reporting, you can make a tax-deductible donation to The News & Observer’s Local Impact Journalism Fund. Donate online at newsobserver.com/donate. Thank you!