From the Editor: Going Full Circle

By Jamie Strickland

My first job out of college was with a small group of locally owned newspapers. Very quickly, I became the editor of one of them, which, like lots of other small town newspapers, is sadly not in existence anymore.

At "The Angier Independent," the readership might have been around 2 or 3 thousand people at that time. I was only 21 or 22 and man was I proud to "Editor" that title of Editor next to my name.

Now, I find myself coming back into that same role again, many years later, with many different jobs filling up a resume since then. And with a much larger readership of around 40,000 people each month. I’m filled with that same sense of pride and excitement all over again. It’s like I’ve come full circle, and landed back where I’m supposed to be.

I’ve worked in many different areas of this industry over the years. I’ve been with JNOW for about a year as a project manager, doing a little bit of everything, and am so excited to be moving into the editor’s chair.

JNOW is a small business with lots of different irons in media industry fires, so I’m sure I’ll still be doing that “little bit of everything” as the need arises, but I am ecstatic about getting to spend the majority of my time doing what I love the most — telling people’s stories.

Getting to know someone and putting their lives into words, connecting with other humans through shared experiences — these are things that I’ll never get tired of. Finding fascinating things about the seemingly mundane and describing it for others to digest. Creating a publication that showcases the place I live and love.

Moving into this position has caused me to think about the path my career has taken — all the experiences I’ve had since graduating with a communications degree 20-plus years ago. (Yikes, am I that old already?) The path it’s taken and all the things I’ve learned and loved about it.

Telling people’s stories is where my passion lies, and I’d like to think my talent lies. Feature writing is what I love.

A fiction writer, I am not. I’ve never been great at inventing characters or developing plots. Or writing poems with that special type of word artistry, either.

Hard news was never my forte either, nor was it my favorite thing to do. Asking people to explain the very worst moments of their lives and watching tragedies unfold were crushing experiences, and honestly part of the reason why I stepped away from journalism for a while.

Our publisher, Randy Capps, has shared similar experiences about having to dig for dirt and rile up sensationalism to maximize clicks on a news website. You can only come face to face with the most terrible parts of society so many times before it starts taking a toll.

I remember walking up on the scene of a terrible car accident and a highway patrolman intercepting me before I could get too close. As a young reporter, I was ready to read him the riot act about the rights of the free press, when he let me know that he was simply sparing me from walking right up where a deceased person was still exposed.

Luckily, you won’t find that type of news in JNOW Magazine. It’s part of the reason Shanna and Randy started this publication. There is absolutely a necessity for news coverage about crime and politics and other such unpleasantness, but JNOW isn’t the place for that.

It’s a place where we tell positive, uplifting stories about things that are happening right here where we live and work. Because we live and work here too, and we genuinely love our community and are proud to be a part of it. As our motto says, people hear enough bad news.

We’re here to emphasize the brighter side of local life. I’m so excited to build upon the foundation that’s been laid and continue bringing you stories about your neighbors that deserve to be told. Plus informing you about community events, nonprofits that are filling the needs of the area and notes from our local schools about the good work they’re doing with young minds.

Shining a light on things to be proud of, and maybe even inspiring you to get involved and do some more good yourself. There’s good in all of us, and sometimes it just takes a little inspiration to get us moving.

Call me an optimist, but I still believe there’s more good than bad in this world, and I look forward to telling you all about it!

Story ideas? Reach out at Jamie@JohnstonNow.com.