by Melanie Jongsma, Publisher
LANSING, Ill. (November 24, 2021) – In some ways it seems like a long time ago, but it was just last November that Managing Editor Josh Bootsma and I were working to pull together a December 2020 print edition that would record some of the local impacts of the pandemic year in our community. That issue would be the first after COVID’s impact on our advertisers forced us to pause printing for seven months.
So when I look back at last Thanksgiving, I remember trying to navigate changes in economics, vendors, software, and delivery systems. It was a time of more questions than answers. It was a time of experimentation and a fingers-crossed kind of hope.
I also remember that we didn’t have to navigate those confusing times alone.
Readers like you stood with us. People contributed financial gifts, encouraging notes, and business ideas. Advertisers signed up to try digital ways of sharing their message. Readers shared our posts with their networks and encouraged others to sign up for local news.
So in a time of uncertainty, we continued to grow. We added new voices to our writing team. We enhanced our sports and education coverage. We installed a text-to-speech and Spanish translation plugin, and we began producing videos in order to share news in new ways.
I’m giving thanks for all of that.
I’m giving thanks for all of you.
Without you, this newspaper doesn’t exist. Thank you for believing in this important work. Thank you for seeing the need and making the investment.
Thank you for being the community in this community newspaper.
More giving thanks from last year and this year
- What we’re thankful for: Lansing Journal writers share thanksgivings (posted Thanksgiving 2020)
- Video: Personal thank-yous from our Lansing Journal team (posted Friday, November 19, 2021)