Today, when Gwen Larson put the paper to bed, she also closed the final chapter of her 17 years at The Gazette.
On Monday, Gwen will start a new career at ESU in public relations as the assistant director of marketing and media relations.
Gwen started with The Gazette in 1993 and has held just about every job possible in the newsroom. She started as a reporter, then moved to features editor, senior reporter, news editor and ultimately executive editor. Gwen has been an amazing staffer. She has touched lives with her reporting and her personal columns. She has battled through the ups and downs of newsroom life, and she put together some historic papers covering some of the biggest news events of our time.
When Gwen started at the paper, she had one son in diapers. Today, he is making college plans and has two younger brothers.
We will miss Gwen, but we can’t fault her for moving to the world of public relations. The PR jobs are coveted by journalists. They are cushy jobs because they typically pay better, employees actually get vacations, the workday ends at 5 p.m., employees are not on call 24/7, there is no work on weekends, there are fewer headaches and a million people aren’t yelling at you.
These jobs are like being on vacation or like a working retirement.
Working at a newspaper on a daily basis is one of the most challenging jobs in any community, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Working 17 years at a daily newspaper can be comparable to surviving a tornado on a daily basis.
That’s because every day you are creating a unique product that has to be produced, edited, printed and delivered. More than 100 people are involved with this process. The environment is extremely fast-paced, with constant deadline pressures. There are thousands of pieces of information in each day’s paper that have to be right; everyone has to work in unison, and things are always changing. And when it’s all done, inevitably there will be many who are unhappy and will call to talk about it.
But there is a reward.
When you step back, your stories have touched people’s lives; you make a difference in the community, and thousands of people look forward to what you make every day. Your work is also the town’s record of history. People can look back hundreds of years from now and see the what the town was like.
While Gwen is used to being bombarded with demands on a daily basis, I have to assume how easy her job will be now and how underutilized she will become being caught up in the large university structure.
I had to chuckle the other day.
Gwen and I were working on the day’s paper and across comes an e-mail news release from ESU. I had to think someone probably spent a week preparing something that would take Gwen five minutes to write and another 30 seconds to post on Facebook and Twitter. That means if she has to turn out five press releases a week, she could do it in less than an hour and then sit in her nice peaceful, quiet office drumming her fingers on the desk for the next 39 hours of the week.
Of course, Gwen will need to pretend like the university workload is crushing and things take tons of time to ensure that the demands don’t increase. Because if Gwen learned one thing working at The Gazette, it was that, if you demonstrate a competency doing something extra, you are stuck with a new duty for no extra reward.
All of us will miss having Gwen in the newsroom trenches, and we know our readers will, too. Good luck.
ClassicNotOld (anonymous) says...
I find your editorial to be very demeaning. I believe you are trying to compliment Gwen as she moves on to new responsibilities. However, the thing I get from this is she's over-qualified for her new job, she'll be lazy, and ESU PR people don't work. Not as positive as I believe you meant ... sad.
December 31, 2010 at 12:59 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
good luck with the new job, gwen! you'll be great! :-)
December 31, 2010 at 1:33 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
I hope your description of Gwen's new job was tongue-in-cheek, Chris. Either that, or it is a lament for having lost an excellent writer among other things. They're few and far between you know.
Gwen deserves so much more than a flunky job. I'm quite confident there is more to it than what is described here.
Good Luck to you, Gwen, and thanks for respecting my own writing when you have published my articles. You deserve some good, decent hours, and pay too.
December 31, 2010 at 2:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
sandman (anonymous) says...
Gwen, you will be missed and good luck with the new job. You've done a super job and the university is so very lucky to have you join them.
ClassicNotOld, lighten-up. Let's ask Gwen what she thought of the article before we bury Chris. I read alot of love and respect between employer and employee and a some FUN!!!! Let us not judge for we may be judged.
December 31, 2010 at 2:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
methusla (anonymous) says...
Some, or most of the Chris Walker editorials should be or " Smack " of being or need to be judged and this article happens to be one that should be judged !!!
Gwen, I am certain that you worked hard for the Gazette and will work just as hard at your new job at ESU, regardless of what Chris Walkers' assesment of the amount of work involved in the field of " Public Relations " . Furthermore the Gazette and its Editor could use a little experience, learning in the field known as " Public Relations ", as a Citys news paper is or should be concerned, not only with the " News " , but also should be concerned with the " Public Relations " of how it is percieved by, not only its subscribers, but by the Journalism World itself !!!
Afterall the storied old paper, The Emporia Gazette is no longer printed in the place it started but printed some 70 miles away !
Now that makes for good Public Relations !!!
I congratulate you Gwen and sincerely hope you will be successful in your " Public Relations " position and may even be happier to boot !!!
December 31, 2010 at 4:22 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
scarlett01_98 (anonymous) says...
i admit i did have to read chris walkers comments several times. i wasn't sure if it was a slam or tongue in cheek. i decided it had to be good natured, or it wouldn't be printed.... right? gwen has good good job and should be congradutated.
December 31, 2010 at 4:47 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
hogan77 (anonymous) says...
Hmmm.. looks like someone was forced to write an article that he really didn't want to write. A tad jealous there? It shows in your writing.
If this is the kind of crap we can look forward to reading in the future, I will be more than happy to find another news source that actually provides unemotional writing.
December 31, 2010 at 5:04 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MelissaGarrison (Melissa Garrison) says...
"They are cushy jobs because they typically pay better, employees actually get vacations, the workday ends at 5 p.m., employees are not on call 24/7, there is no work on weekends, there are fewer headaches and a million people aren’t yelling at you ... While Gwen is used to being bombarded with demands on a daily basis, I have to assume how easy her job will be now and how underutilized she will become being caught up in the large university structure."
...You have obviously never worked at the college, and I really hope this was a joke.
January 1, 2011 at 11:40 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
glarson (anonymous) says...
Happy New Year, all.
I thank you for the kind wishes.
I can assure you that I read Chris' column before it was published, and I take no offense at it.
I have a number of friends who have made the transition from newsrooms to public relations. All tell me that I will be amazed at the different pace in my new job.
On the other hand, I also know that I will have plenty of projects to keep me busy in my new job. The biggest difference is that, for the most part, the projects won't find me on nights and weekends.
I left The Gazette on Friday afternoon amidst hugs and tears. I enjoyed the last 17 years with my Gazette family, and I look forward to developing relationships at ESU.
Gwen Larson
January 1, 2011 at 12:32 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
justthefacts (anonymous) says...
Best part is probably not having to babysit anonymous bloggers. Just prepare yourself for campus politics. Nasty business.
January 1, 2011 at 12:46 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
create (anonymous) says...
Now you can be one of us, Gwen. ;)
January 1, 2011 at 12:55 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
finch (anonymous) says...
Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Of course, your experience at the Gazette quailfies you to speak about the pace and workload of the university.
Or perhaps just a license to give an unsolicited, uninformed opinion. You did a good job of that at least.
January 6, 2011 at 2:45 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )