Small-town newspaper reporters get little respect, to paraphrase the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield. They toil for low pay—and often for long hours and with little recognition. They endure abuse—and rare praise—from their editors and members of the public.
That observation could explain in part why many young reporters become disillusioned and leave the business after a short time. They become jaded and cynical when they realize their employers don’t adhere to the ideals of a free press by speaking truth to power and instead buckle under pressure from advertisers and powerful people.
Thanks for reading Ken’s Newsletter! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
However, some reporters and editors at small papers choose to spend years at them. They might stay for personal reasons unrelated to professional development. Perhaps they fell in love, got married and chose to raise their children in the communities.
One such reporter is Doug Cook, a former colleague who started in 2003 at a rural daily in Arizona. (I’ve chosen not to identify the newspaper.) Only one of his colleagues in a nonmanagement position has worked there longer. He has covered news and sports.
Doug is an easy-going, self-effacing guy whom I jokingly nicknamed “Big, Bad Doug” because he has worked at a newspaper in a community that retains vestiges of its Wild West past. In short, I’ve made Doug sound like a western anti-hero. I announced his presence when he walked softly into the newsroom carrying a reporter’s notebook.
I started at the newspaper months after Doug’s arrival. The newspaper went through a growth spurt by switching to morning delivery and going seven days a week. However, the Great Recession that started in 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic that arrived in 2020 triggered the opposite effects. Like many newspapers throughout the country, the paper has cut staff and hours and reduced print editions to five days a week.
He has strong ties to the community. He moved from Columbus, Ohio, during his youth and graduated from high school here. Classmates included the current police chief and an ax murderer.
To his credit, Doug has survived purges, layoffs, a failed coup and assassination attempts. Yet, even Doug decided it was time to move on—and not try to advance in a declining industry. He got strategic. He earned a master’s degree online in library and information science from Indiana University at Indianapolis with the intent of becoming a research librarian. He interned at the library of a nearby private college and worked part time at the community college library. He accepted a job as a digital archivist at a public utility and will put in his last day Friday at work. In his late forties, he’s still young enough to make a career change.
Thus, this week marks the final days of Big, Bad Doug at a newspaper where he started when George W. Bush was president.
I’m using this blog to write his journalistic obituary and to pay tribute with anecdotes. I recall years ago when the best man at his wedding—then a co-worker and fellow hardcore Rush fan — said that he proposed a toast to Doug. He presented a plastic bag containing toast. The jester placed the bag in my desk drawer but denied doing so.
I recall going to lunch with Doug at a nearby restaurant. Noticing the age difference, the owner asked whether Doug was my son despite the lack of a physical resemblance.
I asked two former colleagues to say nice things about Doug and bribed them handsomely. Excerpts appear below.
From Steve Stockmar, former sports and city editor: “Doug Cook is one of those: a terrific writer, a curious reporter, a fact gatherer, an audience respecter, and a storyteller. He's also the nicest guy you'll ever find. He's so cool you find yourself rooting for his sports teams even if they're not your teams.”
From John Paul Kamin, former reporter and web editor: “Big Doug was a mainstay of the newsroom. In the age where Malcolm Gladwell has urged us to do something 10,000 times to succeed, Big Doug has witnessed 10,000 plays apiece in high school and collegiate football, basketball, soccer, softball, volleyball, baseball and some other sport that I am surely forgetting. He quite literally has written enough articles to fill at least 20 years of yearbooks.
“Perhaps Doug’s most admirable quality is being the most humble person in the room - if you ask for his expert opinion, his first words will be ‘Well I don’t know about that …’ Folks like Doug Cook eclipse the day-to-day grind of journalism and are the aesthetic of something greater, not that Big Doug would ever tell you that himself. I would imagine you would have a hard time finding anyone who has a legit complaint about the guy. As his former editor for some of his late-night copy, a Doug Cook piece was always a breath of relief - the guy knows how to tell you what happened in an original way without tripping over his words. …
“Over the years when I think of Doug, I most frequently reflect upon the fact that Doug always lamented his Cleveland Indians 1997 World Series loss to the Florida Marlins as a big missed opportunity of his favorite team. I honestly still remember that 15 years after I last worked with Doug. So I would encourage Doug to share his talents with a local baseball league, as I’m sure he has at least 100 new things to teach them. And if it’s hard to figure out how to convey that message at first, I am wholly confident that Big Doug will find the right way. Nobody sticks to a job like that, for that long, if they don’t enjoy the process of the fine art of coaching. I can’t think of a finer compliment than saying that our future generations would benefit from Big Doug’s guidance.”
Leaving a newspaper job can be bittersweet. Depending on the circumstances, it can be much more bitter than sweet. Newspaper managements can be callous, even brutal. One sad example is that of Becky, who worked in advertising support at one of my former newspapers and was laid off without notice after working there for 43 years. She said in a Facebook message: “I was called into the conference room, given a paper saying my position was no longer needed and one to sign that I understood I was being let go. They let me get my purse and phone and took me to the door. No thank you … just leave. Had to make an appointment to come on a weekend to clean out my desk and they watched everything I put in my boxes to make sure I didn't take anything I shouldn't. … It was devastating. Like being in a 43 yr marriage that you thought was going fine then getting up one morning, he's gone and divorce papers are on the table and you have no idea why. ...”
Fortunately, Doug said he will honored for his years of service with a staff pizza party Thursday. On Friday, he will file his final assignments and make plans to morph from Big, Bad Doug into Digital Doug.
Ken's Second Act
Cheers to Big Doug!