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Dear Reader: I've loved this job

By JIM VERHULST
Published July 10, 2005

So, it's time to say goodbye.

After nearly nine years as the editor of Neighborhood Times, I will take on a new job at the Times on Monday, as a metropolitan editor working on the City and State section.

My photo will disappear from the staff box to the left. My, it's already gone!

But that's about the only change you should notice. Neighborhood Times has such a strong, experienced and dedicated crew of journalists that the departure of one editor won't much matter.

That, of course, raises an obvious question. What, exactly, does a Neighborhood Times editor do?

The short answer: Sometimes, not much. Other times, a lot.

The editor is the person ultimately responsible for all of the news content that appears in Neighborhood Times, from the stories on its front page to the real estate transactions, police reports and wedding announcements. He or she may not actually see some of the items before they are published - but as head of the section is responsible nonetheless.

In the larger sense, the editor decides what matters - what sorts of things the section will and won't publish. The editor assigns stories, in other words, says yes or no to a reporter's ideas. The editor then helps to shape the reporting and writing of those stories, works to coordinate photos and graphics, and ultimately decides how to play the entire package - on the front page or deep within the section.

Most important, the editor helps to mold the overall feel of the section, what it stands for. And in the case of Neighborhood Times, that has been and remains an easy call. Neighborhood Times is all about community news. At our best, we hope to cover in meaningful ways the things that matter to you in our neighborhoods in south Pinellas. Not fluff, not features, but news that makes the section something you want to, need to, read because it informs you of things that matter in the place you and I call home. At our worst? This is my last column, so I get to skip that question in its entirety.

The importance of this job became apparent to me in the fall of 1996, just before I was actually in it. St. Petersburg was in the throes of what came to be known as "the disturbances." After a night of violence, acrid smoke hung in the air the next day in the neighborhood where my oldest son - then a third-grader at Perkins Elementary - went to school. As my wife and I drove him there, we caught the scent of embers from the previous night and wondered if it was safe for him to be at the school.

We decided it was and wanted to show our support for the school by being there, but I realized then and there how little I knew about parts of my own town, and how important it is for neighbors and neighborhoods to know one another. No one should be a stranger to another. The need to start that conversation and to keep it going informs much of what Neighborhood Times does.

It has been fun talking with hundreds, maybe thousands, of you over the years. Many of our best ideas and stories started with a phone call from a reader. I won't pretend that every conversation was pleasant, but most were, and it's always heartening to know how many people care enough to pick up the phone. That's why our numbers and photos appear in that box to the left.

As I leave the best job in the newsroom, I implore you to keep calling the Neighborhood Times folks with your ideas, thoughts and concerns. After all, the community in which we all live is a worthy topic for a lifelong conversation.

[Last modified July 9, 2005, 23:34:17]