The Journal has evolved over the years. I believe Plourds owned it before my time. The Hebdas owned and printed the Journal when I lived in Fullerton during my youth (60s, 70s,). There was at least one interim ownership between them and the latest owners of the Journal; Rick Holtz, Beth and Allen Sparrow.
Changes come all the time, but seemingly slower to small town USA. The latest editors / owners of the Journal, as I understand it, also own and distribute another paper in Nebraska. They have brought more pictures (mostly school athletics) into the paper, probably to the delight of many parents and relatives.
One complaint however, HS graduate pictures in the past had always been roughly 2x3 prints, not the postage stamp size photos that have taken their place. There are only 20 or so Fullerton graduates every year; surely the Journal can afford that space once a year. They have also included Genoa sports, etc., which for a long time Genoa really didn’t get much press in the Journal, but you know, Genoa has its own paper and if it were up to me, I would include Genoa with news that directly affects the “county”, of which they are part of, and leave their local athletics and social events to publish in their own paper.
Belgrade is Nance County too, and has no paper so the Journal should make more of an effort to gather news from there also.
Small towns love their history and take huge ownership and pride of their town, as they should. Some names have been around for generations. One column that had been around for years was “A look Back” or “Back Pages” or “Rewind” which captured historical tidbits of news from 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 and 80 years ago. Personally, I found these memories would many times bring a smile to my face and maybe a reason to give someone a call. Unfortunately, that column started to decline with the latest Journal editor / ownership (I was told originally due to lack of available space) and now it has completely disappeared.
Which finally brings me to answering Allen Sparrow’s most recent call for “Letters to the Editor.” Religion and politics are personal issues and yes, most of us identify and some of us, very strongly. I don’t doubt the new owners of the Journal are good people, however, since they have taken over the Journal, we see more religion, more politics and more of their personal opinions on a weekly basis to the tune of a full page or sometimes even close to two pages if you add it all up. Don’t get me wrong; I’m grateful that Fullerton still has a paper, however, for my two cents and Journal subscription, the Journal belongs to the people of Nance County and it would be nice if there was more focus on news (to include bringing back the history and memories of “Rewind”) and less opinion.
Larry Syslo
Colorado Springs, CO