With the departure of another editor from the Fitzhugh, there comes an unending onslaught of naysayers regarding the longevity of this newspaper. Change, particularly with editorial staff, is nothing new in the newspaper industry, nor is it in many other industries around the world, particularly tourism and hospitality.

So why is it then that people feel such a sense of ownership when it comes to the changing of the guard, particularly at a small town newspaper? Why do individuals feel that this rather common occurrence is any of their business? Is it a matter of trust having been broken with our readership when change happens?

A change to some can be quite frightening; it seems to upset the natural balance in people’s lives. To many, change is associated with bad, unpleasant things to come. One just becomes used to one person’s style of writing factual and interesting news articles then Bam! they are gone and one’s reading pleasure is threatened. A reader disgruntled and displeased with the events as they have unfolded thinks “Why should I not have a say?”

A journalist’s job is to build relationships with individuals, businesses and the community, and so a person may justly feel betrayed when they’ve invested their personal time in befriending someone who has no intention of being in our town for the long-term.

To understand the ebb and flow of the newspaper business you must understand that any journalist worth their salt will not be staying long at any weekly newspaper if their goal is eventually to work for the big boys or branch off into other fields of journalism; a small weekly newspaper is nothing more than a stepping stone for them. It is quite simply the nature of the beast.

So, when our readership sometimes takes personal affront with the departure of an editorial staff member, whether through personal choice to emigrate to greener pastures or through management deciding it is time for them to go, we, the remaining staff, are somewhat bewildered at the response. It is the remaining staff who have not only lost a co-worker but sometimes a friend and the rotating door does at times become tiresome. However, it is the level of professionalism by staff that is the foundation that keeps each change in editorial from being nothing more than an inconvenience.

A newspaper is a business providing a service like any other business and there will always be new faces and voices providing that service. Not everyone is cut out for this business - some take it too personally, some are not impartial enough, some tend to take preference in catering to certain demographic groups and tend to forget their readership comes from all walks of life. Change, as unpleasant as it might be at times, always leads to new beginnings. So, love us or hate us, there will always be change with this newspaper, hopefully usually for the better.

So we hear Conrad Black is out of jail and looking for a job...