Hello again, old friend.
Saguaros and palo verde trees in bloom, 85-degree afternoons, carne seca at El Charro — you’re really pulling out all the stops, making me wonder why I ever left you.
It’s truly a blessing to be back in Tucson — and, for the third time, back at the Arizona Daily Star. This time I’m here as executive editor and Arizona state editor for Lee Enterprises, which includes oversight of our sister publication, the Arizona Daily Sun in Flagstaff.
When I was here before, the Star was out on South Park Avenue. We were engaged in a spirited, ink-stained competition with the Tucson Citizen, and the internet was not even a twinkle in Al Gore’s eye.
While it’s perhaps true that we didn’t know how good we had it, this is not a paean to those times. I have no interest in going backward.
Today we can report the news in many more ways, with immediacy, with podcasts and video, with more reader engagement, and without cigarette ash covering every surface in the newsroom.
The power of words and images is undiminished. When we put them together in a compelling way, we can inform, inspire and make change.
The Star had wonderful reporters and writers then. And we had thoughtful, principled, visionary editors.
We still do.
It’s true — we have fewer journalists now than we did then; fewer now than we had last year, or last month. That’s a reflection of the challenging times we are going through across the news industry.
But we still have the ability, and responsibility, to cover the news with energy and urgency, with thoughtfulness and depth.
We would fail to do what’s needed to continue the Arizona Daily Star’s proud tradition of service to Tucson if we operated from a mindset of deprivation. We are amid an epochal transition in this business, from being print-centric to being online-centric. Our revenue model is changing, and we are in the depths of that swing. We expect things to get better and we are determined to drive the change in ways that meet readers’ expectations.
We will continue to strive to present the news however you want it — in print, with our E-edition, with our core website, tucson.com, and with innovative ways to celebrate the people who call Tucson home, like thisistucson.com.
Because we have great people and a ton of determination, we will continue to focus on — and excel in — covering the environment, real estate and economic development, border and immigration, public safety and quality of life, University of Arizona news and athletics, and the Tucson personalities and unique cultural aspects that shape daily life here.
And we will continue to transform.
We’ll soon work to constitute an editorial board selected from members of the community. As the editor, I’ll serve as a moderator, but the discussions that form our editorial positions won’t be one-way. We’ll strive to make those conversations dynamic and inclusive. Stay tuned.
I’m proud and honored to be part of the “we” that is the news staff at the Star once again. We in the newsroom feel deeply our responsibility to you, the readers, to help inform and improve your daily lives here in this great city.
More than ever, we need your support. We will do our best to earn it.
