Editorial; Welcome to what we do

This issue of The Herald is sort of special. You see, twice a year, Santa Newspaperclaus gives out a free paper to every Monroe Countian (that’s only a real word because I said so).

It’s a semi-annual promotion we do to try to drum up ad sales, subscription sales - you know - get new folks involved in our production.

Well, today I’m going to take a moment to explain just it is we (try to) do in The Herald sports section.

Hi, I’m Nate Beier.

I’m the sports editor for the Monroe County Herald (that’s the newspaper you’re reading now).

This is my sixth school year that I’ve covered for the MCH. I’ve seen some things happen. I usually know what’s going on in the local sports world.

I also run my own p h o t o g r a p h y / m e d i a business, GX3 Media. Sure, I run it as poorly as any other person who doesn’t have any business sense would, but I guess it’s still mine. I’ve been doing that for the past 20- 25 years, depending on how you look at it.

The point is, I deal in local sports. I’ve made it the thing I’m known for.

I’m not a one-trick pony, though. I have plenty of non-sport hobbies and interests, as well.

I can draw, sketch, make a mean piece of toast and even tie my shoes, but I usually stick to my flip flops for their comfort and ease of wear.

I fell into this job due to unfortunate circumstances. The previous sports editor, JP Schaller, had some health issues back in 2020 and he moved on to other things.

I’ve seen JP here and there since then and he looks happy with the way things ended up. I’m thrilled for him.

Hey, I get it. This job robs you of nights, weekends, winters, personal days, sick time and so on. News doesn’t really stop and neither does reporting on it.

I’ve tried getting out. I’ve tried on several occasions. I probably should have been forced out on several occasions more. Yet, here we still are.

I really do love wallowing in misery.

I jest, to some extent. If I didn’t enjoy sharing stories of our local athletes, it’d be easy to let go and have someone else try their hand at recording the local history for our Monroe County athletes.

Yet, that’s just it. I do enjoy sharing the stories of our teams that do well. Of our athletes that overcome hardships or obstacles. There are always unique perspectives that lead to compelling stories which local audiences should know of...and the only way they know is if there’s an intelligent and knowledgeable person helming things.

We just have to understand that this job will likely kill me at some point. I didn’t know if that’s how I envisioned the end, but I’ve heard enough, seen enough to know that a life in the media is one that comes with certain stresses and perils that other jobs don’t have.

WHAT WE DO

The philosophy I’ve imparted on the MCH sports section is to record and preserve our local sports scores and some stats.

There will be some crazy person - crazier than I - that will come looking for scores and numbers down the road. I hope that what we’ve done will help that future person fill in some blanks.

The way I want to share those numbers, those stories, those triumphs is through big, bold layouts. Photos come first, and they determine how much copy we can pack around it.

Other newspapers have packed it in in terms of giving a **** about intelligent layout, quality photography or even writing their own stuff (don’t trust the AI, people). That’s not the way I want to do business. That’s not the way we should treat our readers.

Quite honestly, there are very few newspapers in our area (and I have looked at dozens) that have what I consider the three major phases of a good newspaper - quality writing, intelligent layout/graphics, abundant advertising - working in some sort of symbiotic rhythm.

I’d like to believe we swing through a couple of those phases here...though they don’t give me many ads to insert in these sports pages. Do you think we could change that? Tell some business owner they’d be smart to sponsor sports - we’re the best part of your paper (I’m biased).

I hope you find our pages of interest and of a high standard - both in writing and in layout/design. If not, email me the complaints. I want to hear how where we’re slacking.

Thanks for reading today. I really hope you come back to see what we’ll share next. Until then, be good!