J’s WORLD: A Frontiersman anniversary: Cheers to 70 years in the Valley

I sat in our conference room on a recent Sunday night. It doubles as the Frontiersman “morgue.”

Dead trees reincarnated in newspaper form.

Shelves along the walls are filled with each published edition bound in broadsheet-sized books separated by date. That Sunday night, Sept. 17, marked the 70th anniversary of the Frontiersman’s first print edition.

Sept. 17, 1947.

No birthday cake. No balloons. Just history.

That Sunday night, as I sat in the conference room, I thumbed through edition after edition. I can spend hours in that room. I have spent hours in that room, time and time again. It’s our history, and I’ll never cease to be fascinated by it.

As I worked through pages, I found the first story I ever contributed to the Frontiersman in 1992. I was a sophomore in high school. There was the first story I actually got paid for. My first column. My wedding announcement. The announcements of the birth of my daughters, Alyson and Abigayle.

Our family’s history is part of the Frontiersman’s history, just like families across the Valley for the past 70 years.

In the first edition of the Valley Frontiersman, there was a small blurb about three Palmer students honored by their school. Ray DePriest was among them, one of three set to attend college at the University of Alaska. Ray’s son John was among my football coaches in high school. I have written about at least a half-dozen of Ray’s grandchildren during my time as sports editor here at the Frontiersman. And that’s just me my connection to them. Just imagine all of the connections to that family in the Valley.

These are the types of connections that bring a community together.

The community newspaper serves several purposes. I’ve always preached names and faces. Highlight those in our community. It’s a focal point.

But that’s not it. A community newspaper has a responsibility. It’s not just wedding and birth announcements, and heartfelt stories. A newspaper also provides a voice, accountability in our community, the checks and balances, information that impacts our community.

And the newspaper has to deliver readers the worst of the news.

Death. Tragedy.

But it’s news, and a responsibility not to be taken lightly.

In our morgue you can read about destruction of the 1964 earthquake; homes lost to the Matanuska River flooding over a number of years; devastating fires, Millers Reach in 1996 and Sockeye in 2015, and horrific crimes, such as the murder of David Grunwald, a local high school student, in 2016.

Not easy stories to write. But stories that have been told.

My business is changing so much. Change is coming at a frightening pace to veterans in my industry. The way information is consumed has changed so much, even in my long tenure with the Frontiersman.

In some ways I feel like my 16 years at this paper have been a lifetime. In that time, we added a third edition, went digital, established an online presence and printed our paper onsite for the first time. In my first year with the paper, reporters were still using film cameras. Only the three editors in the newsroom, myself included, had access to email and the Internet. We didn’t have a website, and our paper was printed in Anchorage.

This was long before Facebook or Twitter, or online blogs.

And to think, my tenure only represents 23 percent of the history of the Frontiersman.

I honestly don’t know where my industry is headed. Regardless of the way our news is consumed — in print or online — I don’t want the philosophy to change. I’ve spent my career working ridiculous hours with the goal of providing our readers with as much local sports coverage as I can, providing our readers with as many names and faces as I can, and telling those more difficult stories when I have to. It’s a responsibility I don’t take lightly. This is the attitude each journalist should have. Those who don’t appreciate that responsibility should not be in this business.

Regardless of how we deliver this news, I hope the average community newspaper continues to deliver the local content the area deserves.

The local newspaper is the backbone of a community.

But in the meantime, I’m going to pop a Frontiersman IPA, a Bear Paw Brewing Company beer named after our paper, and toast the Frontiersman’s 70 years in the Valley.

Cheers.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor (lifer) Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. Any Frontiersman IPA can be forwarded to 5751 E. Mayflower Court courtesy of JB, the lifer, or that guy who always wears a Cubs hat.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Join us Friday from noon to 3 p.m. for an open house at the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Bring your family and tour our press facility, meet the staff, ask questions and enjoy refreshments. Help us celebrate this milestone and investment in our community.