The Herald’s Editor-In-Chief has passed the baton: What can its readers expect now?

By GEORGE CUSTER/Interim Editor/The Herald–Believe me when I say that I’m scared out of my wits. All of us at The Herald had become so confident, self-assured, relaxed, proud, and all those other words that would explain our feeling of joyful complacency. We just knew that Doug would research, produce, edit, and publish a top-quality, online news source. The Herald was all Doug and Dean. Two career newspaper men whom the rest of us felt assured that it would all be done correctly and professionally. No more Doug and Dean? Gulp! Double gulp! What in the world do we do now? We somehow knew this time was coming but chose to ignore it. I do take a bit of solace in knowing that they have established a sterling example of what an “online newspaper” should look like. I will be looking back at many of the articles written by Doug to try to emulate his work. I will also turn to works by Dean Rea in hope of gaining insight into his wry sense of humor and wit.

As the newly appointed interim editor, it’s my job to keep the “presses” rolling for The Herald. I’ll need all the help I can get, as well as a lot of patience from our readers. I’m sure I’ll miss a lot and get some things wrong, but, then again, I’m a businessman, not a college-trained journalist. When I told Doug that I would keep The Herald going, he looked at me with a, I don’t know how I would describe it, look that said “George, you have no idea what you’re getting into.” He was amused, but I saw a bit of sadness in his eyes, as if to say… “I envy your tenacity, but I foresee a rough road ahead for you.”

Doug’s probably right. Sometimes it’s to my undoing, but I’ll always be a hopeless optimist. People who know me are used to my reckless enthusiasm. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead! I have fallen hopelessly in love with our little project and will protect it as a knight will stand between the damsel and the dragon. The Herald will go on. It needs to.

That all sounds nice, BUT, as I mentioned earlier, I will need your help. For The Herald to continue its upward trend, serving all the communities along the entire Highway 58 corridor with informative, accurate, and unbiased news, it will need support from you, our readers. Your donations have kept our heads above water, and all of us at The Herald want to thank you immensely. As a newly minted nonprofit in the eyes of the IRS, we are made up of all volunteers. Hiring an editor, however, will require funds that we can only hope to amass sooner than later. I want a professional editor. You want a professional editor. Much of my time will be divided three ways between searching for an editor, figuring out how to pay that person, and editing stories and articles.

My unbounded enthusiasm says I can do this. Boy oh boy, you don’t know HOW MUCH I want a professional editor!

I know Doug and Dean will read this and they will collectively shake their heads. Not to worry guys, I got this (with a little help from my friends, hopefully). So, bear with me, hang on, and let the ride begin!