Old enemies die hard
"We have met the enemy and they is us." - Pogo the possum.
Walt Kelly penned that phrase in his "Pogo" comic strip years ago. Chuck Kelly - no relation - probably has uttered it a few times in the last weeks.
Chuck is the editor and publisher of the Ogdensburg Journal and wears similiar hats for the Daily Courier-Observer, the St. Lawrence Plaindealer and Malone Telegram newspapers. He has worked for various owners of the Ogdensburg papers since he was very young. I may be wrong, but I think the first story he covered as a cub reporter was the British attack on Ogdensburg during the War of 1812.
In any event, ever since those early days, the papers have competed for news with the Watertown Daily Times. That robust competition made sense until 1997, when the Johnson Newspapers - which publishes the Times - bought the Journal and the other papers. But times were good. Newspapers were making money hand over fist.
It should be known that whether you are talking about the late John B. Johnson - editor and publisher of the Times when it bought the smaller papers, or John B. Johnson Jr., who along with his brother, Harold, run the show now, journalistic competition is in the family's blood. So nothing changed after the purchase ... except Chuck's fight was now against the guy who was signing his checks.
I am told Chuck chewed out his reporters royally when the Times broke a story his papers didn't have. And when forced to follow one of these stories in his publications, he would not have his reporter credit the Times for breaking the news ... he would have them say the news was first reported in "an out-of-county" newspaper. No mention of the Watertown Daily Times necessary, thank you very much. Like I said, Chuck is a competitor and we were the enemy.
The times have changed. The Times has changed. I don't know much about finances, but I know the fist we used to make money over seems to have slugged us and taken our wallets. It might not have made sense to pay two reporters to cover the same story in 1997, but we could afford the adrenaline rush that competition brings back then.
The Johnson family about two weeks ago made the announcement that the days of competing were over. That tough times required tough solutions. No more would the company pay two reporters to cover the same story. And Chuck started channeling the little possum named Pogo. He had met the enemy and it was him. He was us.
The Times, Courier-Observer, Plaindealer and Telegram are now sharing stories. There's a lot to do in changing a system, changing a culture that has existed for so long. It's surely going to take a while before the new news operation is running smoothly. It will likely be longer than that before we see any financial benefits from the move. The immediate winners will be the readers of Johnson Newspapers, because the steps we are taking will help ensure there is an Ogdensburg Journal, a Daily Courier-Observer, a Telegram and a Times into the foreseeable future.
The Times will remain the leading full-service newspaper in the north country and will continue to bolster its position in the Internet news race. The smaller papers will continue to provide the kind of community news that people love to make fun of and would hate to do without. You also can expect the Journal and Courier-Observer to develop Web sites of their own not too far down the road. All of this is going to happen with the Johnson Newspapers working as a team.
There was a time not too long ago when that idea would have made Chuck go into convulsions. I think today he has grasped the notion that any media outlet whose checks aren't signed by someone named Johnson is the enemy. Well, he's mostly grasped that. He still seems to gets a little jittery when I call to tell him I'll be sending his paper a story written by a Times reporter. I suppose that's understandable after 55 years fighting the fight. Old enemies die hard.
