How I left it

Maybe it's best to begin this blog with how I left things in Montana:

Mineral County,

I’ll be frank: I have been trying to leave Mineral County since the day I arrived.

It has nothing to do with the county itself. This is a wonderful place to live with a relaxing lifestyle and happy people, and I can see why so many are pleased and proud to call this area home.

But I’ve never viewed it as a home. I’ve always seen it as a job. This is where my first professional opportunity came, and I’m glad for that. Now it’s time to move on. I have accepted a reporter job at a daily paper in a bigger market.

I realize this isn’t fair to you. Whether or not you are happy to see me go is not the issue. What isn’t fair is that you can’t expect consistency from the Mineral Independent. It’s supposed to be your paper, something you can depend on for your news. Yet new faces come in every six months and screw everything up one more time.

Toward the beginning of my time here, many people asked me if I was already searching for a new job or how long I planned on staying.

The problem is that the Mineral Independent is the smallest market a journalist can work in. It’s a weekly paper covering a county of nearly 4,000 people. Anyone who enters this profession hoping to spend their life at a paper like the Mineral isn’t prioritizing their career. That’s the harsh reality. It’s unfortunate that you’re the ones who suffer from the high turnover.

My replacement is also a recent college graduate looking to begin her career. Maybe she will fall in love with Mineral County or fall in love in Mineral County and have a reason to stay. Or maybe she will abandon you just as I am about to.

Regardless, I hope you will welcome her just like you welcomed me. I know I’ve made mistakes. I know she will, too. I also know that the kind of mistakes we make dissipate with time as we become more familiar with the people and issues in the county. That’s why it’s so frustrating, I imagine, for you to constantly be dealing with new reporters.

I’d like to thank you for putting up with everything – from lousy photos to mindless blunders. I’d also like to thank you for the diversity of stories you’ve allowed me to cover. One of the amazing things about this job is that it demands covering high school sports, commissioners meetings and forest fires all in the same day.

Teachers always say that they will forever remember their first students. I know I never will forget Mineral County, the first county I ever covered. You’ll forget me, though. I’ll blend in with the other young faces that come in and out, disrupting your newspaper.

Maybe someday the right person will arrive. That person will be as equally committed to journalism as they are to Mineral County. Perhaps that person is in diapers right now in St. Regis, or in high school in Superior. I hope so because you deserve a dependable reporter. I’m sorry that I’m not him.

Comments welcome,

Andrew