HOT PURSUIT

Of all the comments we received from the judges this past week at the annual Minnesota Newspaper Association’s awards contest, one stuck out more than any other.

In awarding the Times first place for General Excellence, which is one of the most prestigious awards in the contest, the judges said among other things, “Every page assembled with care.” That short comment captures exactly what we aim to do every week with every page of the newspaper. To me there really is no greater compliment.

I know most people are not involved in the production of our newspaper. That’s something several of our staff members do quietly behind the scenes when nobody else is around. We take the layout and design of our newspaper seriously, no matter if it’s the front page or the last page of the paper. Everything in between matters just as much.

Many hours are spent each week in producing the pages that you end up reading. I take great pride in putting together a quality newspaper. It’s hard for me to convey to you how much thought goes into each page of the paper before we finally end up placing stories, photos and advertisements.

I don’t just throw anything onto a page and call it good, even though that would certainly be the easy way out and quickest way to do it. Things must make sense to me, and I have reasons for placing things the way I do. The size of photographs, font style and size of headlines and how things are bundled together are all things I consider in putting together a page. There must be a certain flow to the layout for me to allow it to get printed. I want it to all make sense to the reader.

At the end of the day, it comes down to the fact that every page we produce is assembled with lots of care. Just as the judges noted in awarding us General Excellence. I hope our readers will take notice of this as well. After all, it’s important to us to have happy readers because they make the overall newspaper thrive.

I have a staff that cares greatly about journalism and what content it produces for readers. We want the Times to be a shining beacon of the communities we serve.

Our staff is certainly thrilled to have won 19 state journalism awards, the most ever in the history of this newspaper for a single contest. The honors we received hit most every area of the newspaper, including writing, photography, social media, advertising and overall sections of the paper.

This certainly doesn’t imply that we are perfect. Last I checked nobody is. We make blunders right along with everybody else. But we hope to keep them to a minimum and focus on producing the best product that our readers deserve.

In the 14 years I have owned this newspaper, I have always strived for quality. I feel we owe it to our readers. Give them a product they will be proud of, and the rewards will be great. That certainly has been the case for us, especially over the past five years.

I can't thank our readers and advertisers enough for supporting us to provide you with the kind of journalism that’s turning heads every time we enter contests. And I hope we’re turning your head in a positive way as well each week when you pick up the paper to read.

I’m off to go in hot pursuit of assembling another page handled with care and while I’m at it, I’ll throw some compassion into it as well.