Not many candles, but plenty of fire

Three years flew by. Then again, all the years do these days.

As we celebrate the third birthday of Muddy River News LLC today, I just wanted to reflect a bit.

My partner, Jim Rapp, eloquent as always, gave you some detailed information about our humble beginnings and how the timing was just right for us to launch Muddy River.

He also touched on the human aspect of it all. That can’t be emphasized enough.

Yes, we’d like to make money so we can pay our people. A little better than breakeven would be great, but it’s the daily contact with the community that makes this special.

It’s being at the store and wearing a Muddy River shirt when people stop you to tell you how much they love Muddy River.

It’s getting a random e-mail thanking us for a story.

It’s a donation that pops up out of the blue.

It’s telling great stories. It’s putting out thought provoking editorials. It’s entertaining videos.

The content needs to be compelling. Not just covering some boring public meeting (although we do plenty of that), but telling stories that need to be told. Some are uncomfortable, but they are necessary.

When we came up with “Our home. Our news.” as our slogan, we meant it. This matters to us. It’s more than a paycheck, although they are appreciated.

I’ve had a job or two in my life, but my wife, Ellen, likes to say “He always comes back to the news.” It’s why it seems like Muddy River News has been around for far more than three years.

So here I am. And here you are. I hope to be here as long as you will have me.

Thanks for reading, watching, listening and supporting.

J. Robert Gough is the publisher/general manager of Muddy River News.