Hello, Humboldt County
So believe me when I say that returning to the Journal is a dream come true, and not in the escapist sense of some burnt-out hack retreating behind the Redwood curtain, but with the sublime sense of purpose that comes from believing that all of this was all meant to be - that a dreamer with a bird’s eye view of Silicon Valley would fly back to Humboldt County to work for the doer who had created a flourishing media property, and had the ambition to see it grow for another 20 years.
Enter Tom, who still owns a homestead off Old Arcata Road; who has spent the last two decades studying how and why businesses and technologies grow or die; who has been a professional communicator ever since he joined the U.S. Navy in 1974 to become a broadcast journalist aboard a ship the Pacific Fleet (I was like the Robin Williams character in “Good Morning, Vietnam,” only less funny and at sea).
My old ship had motto that seems apropos. It was a cargo vessel that transferred munitions, fuel and other supplies to the Navy’s fighting ships, and had a pragmatic moniker: the Latin was “Judicimur Agendo,” in English, “By our actions, let us be judged.”
So please join us in the weeks and months ahead as we figure out how “hybrid journalism” can make you smile, shake your fist or find a great deal. We have charted an ambitious course. Help us stay on track. Let us know what you love and what you hate, to make sure that we don’t throw the good old values overboard while we embark on this quest to discover what the new technologies will let us do.
As promised, here are the links to the four-part blog post living out there in cyberspace:
Part 1: The time I bought half interest in a newspaper from a man with wooden teeth
http://minimediaguy.org/2007/12/25/the-time-i-bought-half-interest-in-a-newspaper-from-a-man-with-wooden-teeth/
Part 2: The teeth bite me
http://minimediaguy.org/2007/12/26/1062/
Part 3: My Big Fat Greek Wedding
http://minimediaguy.org/2007/12/27/from-a-man-with-wooden-teeth-3-of-4/
Part 4: Medicine taken, lessons learned
http://minimediaguy.org/2007/12/28/from-a-man-with-wooden-teeth-4-of-4/
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on the cover
Railroad!
Proposed lines ‘set rich blood a-tingling’ in early 1900s
Some Other Proposed North Coast Railroads
Choo-choo Fantasies
Exposing this east-west rail nonsense
seven-o-heaven
Undeterred Will
Will chides Andrew for lack of attention to detail and makes plans for his inevitable victory.
Recent editor
April 12
Journal honored
Winning streak continues in Better Newspapers Contest
March 22
NCJ's Ugliest Billboard Contest
Dec. 22, 2011
Didn't We Say No?
Today
Lanphere Dunes Restoration
STAFF PICK / outdoors / 9:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Meet at Pacific Union School. Help remove non-native invasives at the Lanphere Dunes Unit of the Humboldt Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Tools and gloves provided, wear work clothes and bring water. Carpool to the protected site. 444-1397.
44th Annual Kinetic Grand Championship Race
STAFF PICK / events, art, outdoors, sports, for kids, free / 9 a.m.-6 p.m. A 3-day, 42-mile kinetic sculpture race over land, sand, mud and water! LeMans start at the Noon Whistle on the Arcata Plaza. Follow the race through Manila, Eureka and into Ferndale on Memorial Day for the Glorious Finish. kineticgrandchampionship.com. 889-3024.
Vidagua CD Release
STAFF PICK / music / 9 p.m. Red Fox Tavern, 415 5th St., Eureka. Reggae-meets-Latin bilingual vocal duo Vidagua is celebrating the release of a self-titled CD. theredfoxtavern.com. 269-0282.
Flow 2012 Fashion Show
STAFF PICK / events / 8 p.m. Arcata Theatre Lounge, 1036 G St. Student designed and produced clothing. Fundraiser for Arcata Arts Institute. $35/$25 students. artsinstitute.net. 822-1220.
More →
10 Comments
Comment / By Mitch Trachtenberg / Jan. 27, 8:20 a.m.
Welcome, Tom.
Thank you for sharing the links to your essay, so that those of us who are interested can have some idea of your thinking. (Incidentally, to me at least, your thoughts about failure and perseverance sound dangerously like wisdom.)
May you “manifest” well for your old and new community.
Comment / By Jerry Post / Jan. 27, 11:31 a.m.
I remember Tom well, from my years as the editor of the Times-Standard back in the 1980s. I have always known him to be a fellow of high character and laudable aspirations. I think his return to the Journal is a welcome development for all concerned. I look forward to seeing the impact of his contributions to this fine publication. To Hank, I say, job well done; enjoy your new gig.
Comment / By Anonymous / Jan. 27, 12:25 p.m.
I too welcome the change.
Europeans, Asians and South Americans have been rioting against the fallout from their New Gilded Age while the occasional mild dissent in our community’s newspapers passes for moral acuity.
Keeping it positive, snappy and entertaining outweighs old-school fact-finding journalism.
To its credit, the NCJ recently broke the 35-year censorship about how the local development community, with very few exceptions, outspends opponents. In 2010, they won it all, as they have done for decades, a familiar story in communities around the globe that have also subsidized lucrative subdivisions out of reach of local incomes and far beyond infrastructure capacity. Our communities are now paying a deadly price, yet, the developers demand more.
No reporter has yet noticed their dominance at every Planning Commission meeting, General Plan Update hearings, workshops, Elements, even community service district meetings will have Arkley’s lobbyist Kay Backer, her arm raised high in perpetual protest for more lots.
John Osborn’s recent NCJ investigative report titled “Interested parties” cries for follow-up (and outrage), this time, BEFORE the next election!!
See you at Eureka’s Warfinger bldg. Monday, Jan. 31, 5:30 to 7:30?
Comment / By Richard Engel / Jan. 28, 12:23 p.m.
“… I co-founded the Journal in December 1990, but produced just six issues before selling the paper to Judy and her partners in the summer of 1990…Everything I have told you thus far is accurate…” Holy time travel!
Welcome back Tom, but I hope the sloppy editing of this piece (there are other typos) is not a precursor of things to come at the Journal.
Comment / By Anonymous / Jan. 28, 1:41 p.m.
So wait, Tom Abate is a Silicon Valley Insider who is Sitting on the Edges of Silicon Valley (as he said on KSLG.) Yet he recently wrote on his blog that it wasn’t until 2010 that he discovered cutting-edge technologies like Flash and Garage Band. Wait, what?
Certainly the owners will quickly think better of swapping out top-shelf talent like Hank Sims — who has been keeping the flame of real journalism alive since Day One — and thinking this Tom character is anywhere close to filling his shoes. You know, back on Earth, we got a saying: If you’re gonna ride in the Kentucky Derby, you’d better not leave your prized stallion back in the stable!
Comment / By Cindy Rawlings / Jan. 28, 9 p.m.
Perseverance! May the North Coast Journal (The Journal) continue and evolve as a hybrid media. I’ve long been a fan of Judy’s and I had the joy of working there back in the early years when it was a monthly magazine. Now I enjoy keeping up online. I live on a hill overlooking Coos Bay and work for the newspaper called The World. Lucky you, Tom back to the Redwoods and Humboldt County.
Comment / By Judy H. / Jan. 28, 10:28 p.m.
12;23: Oops. Every one needs an editor and in this case, that was me. For the record, Tom and Mia’s first monthly edition was January 1990, not December 1989 as Tom originally wrote. I changed the month but not the year. Writers really hate it when editors screw up and make them look bad. But “holy time travel” might get you an ice cream if you write back and sign your name.
Comment / By Richard Engel / Jan. 29, 7:23 p.m.
Hi editor, I did sign my name — take another look at my original posting above.
I’ve gotten ice cream from the Journal a few times before, but I’m always up for another trip to Bon Boniere. Keep ‘em coming. Thanks!
Comment / By Anon / Feb. 1, 11:38 a.m.
Now this I’m looking forward to:
“the editor in a community which I love and where my work, as a moderator of the public forum, is a force for good.”
Too many reporters see their job as ferreting out any hint of controversy and magnifying it beyond reason. This is not a force for good, though it may be entertaining to some.
What this community needs is more investigative reporting, less “he-said-she-said” summaries.
Welcome back, Tom!! Looking forward to the new Journal. It’s been good so far, and sounds like it’s going to get better!
Comment / By Irony / Today, 11:36 p.m.
Hey Anon 11:38 Today,
You know Tom is out, right!?! What, we’re you being sarcastic? The series of events would say, “Yes!” but the content seems unaware.
From the T-S, “Ryan Burns, staff writer with the Journal since 2008, will assume the role of acting editor effective immediately, said Journal publisher Judy Hodgson, who would not say if Abate was fired or quit the newspaper.”
So…welcome to the fire, Ryan!