Thanks for the warm welcome

Published 1:30 am Thursday, December 14, 2023

As the nights grow cold and the days grow short, I find myself thankful to be working in a town like Vashon.

I joined The Beachcomber four months ago and took on the editor role in October. In that time, I’ve met islanders for lunch, hiked with them, and taken lots and lots of their pictures.

I’m still getting my bearings, and there are so many stories about the island to write — I wish I could get to them faster.

But so far, Vashon’s welcome has been the warmest reception I’ve had to a new community as a journalist.

After graduating from the University of Washington in 2017, I went to work for three years in Longview, a moderately conservative industry city north of the Vancouver-Portland metro area, nestled at the meeting of the Cowlitz and Columbia rivers.

It was a hell of a time to be a fresh-faced reporter in Washington State. Our small staff constantly covered rallies over gun rights, police, Donald Trump, racial equity, and by the end of my time there, COVID-19. Big political races from city councils to the governor to the nationally-scrutinized race for Washington’s 3rd Congressional District seemed to take center stage every fall.

The national rhetoric around journalism, informed by President Trump’s antagonistic (and, I felt, Machiavellian) relationship with the press, seemed at times to tinge my relationships with people before I even had a chance to meet them and show them what kind of a journalist I am.

Despite the fraying tensions, most people were kind and generous in speaking to me, including the political and social conservatives who — accurately — judged me to be a suburban liberal kid in over his head.

Still, there was plenty of anger to go around, and some of it came my way — both when I really did mess up, and in my opinion, sometimes when I didn’t. It was a fascinating and exciting place to work, but I constantly felt like an outsider.

Hey, I’ll always love Longview and Cowlitz County and the people who live there. But Vashon, you’ve made it easy for me.

You’ve accepted me with open arms, patiently explained your idiosyncrasies, and gently but firmly told me how the paper can be better.

You’ve been generous with your time, your submissions, and your suggestions, which I don’t take for granted. It is highly unusual for a paper like ours to be bursting with so many contributions from the community.

The honeymoon phase won’t last forever. We’ll settle into our relationship, and your expectations from the new editor will keep rising — as they should. Generosity is a two-way street, and you deserve a great newspaper.

What’s nice for me is that I don’t feel much anxiety about delivering that paper to you. I don’t walk into the office with my heart racing in my chest, as I often did in Longview. I know you’ll hold us accountable at the same time you hold us in your hearts.

Thanks for the warm welcome, and enjoy reading The Beachcomber.