Faces change, mission stays the same

Since 1947, the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman has been the community’s only source of comprehensive local news. Our archives contain 68 years of local history compiled over the years by a tireless band of dedicated journalists.

All those pages of newsprint paint a picture of life in the Valley. Three times a week in the print edition, and 24/7 at frontiersman.com, our stories inform and educate. They celebrate our achievements and mourn our sorrows.

The process of gathering news and telling the stories of our community is not always easy. Neither is putting it all together in a newspaper, often on tight deadlines.

The bulk of that heady responsibility falls on the managing editor. For the past five years, the person making it all happen has been Heather Resz.

A veteran Alaska journalist, Resz has been in the editor’s chair here since September 2010. She previously served as the Frontiersman’s assistant editor in the mid-1990s. Between her two tours of duty at the Frontiersman, Resz expanded and honed her prodigious skills at other newspapers around the state, giving her a valuable perspective on both the newsgathering process and the proper role of a community newspaper.

That perspective has given her an understanding that being an effective editor means not just sitting on the sidelines and observing. Her active participation in the community — reading to young grade-schoolers in the classroom, moderating middle-school spelling bees, mentoring high school journalism students — has personalized the newspaper for readers and added sensitivity and depth to our news coverage that could never be found elsewhere.

We point this out today because this is the final edition of responsibility for Resz. She is hanging up her managing editor’s hat to seek out her next adventure. We send her off with our appreciation for her good work and our best wishes for the future.

Although newsroom leadership is changing, the newspaper’s mission is not. The Frontiersman will continue to provide the same comprehensive local news coverage it has since 1947. And by remembering the commitment to community demonstrated by Resz these last five years, we know we will be properly inspired as we move forward.