By Gina Long
Michael and I have a running joke. Every Saturday evening, when he sets up the next day’s newsletter framework, he leaves a placeholder for my editorial titled “Opinion: Gina yells at something.” I am notoriously slow in writing my week’s entry, even when I have an idea about the topic. As a result, I spend the wee hours filling in the newsletter and scheduling it.
One night, it was very late, and I was very tired. I finished writing, loaded and scheduled my opinion piece into our website, and then added the link to the newsletter. I neglected to fix the placeholder headline, so the newsletter went out with the editorial piece about Evergy’s next round of rate increases. Michael tried to restrain himself, but he finally broke down in laughter during our usual Sunday afternoon face-to-face editorial meeting at Metropolitan Coffee. It was funny.
We met at a philosophy book club at the former Crow & Co. and found common backgrounds in high school forensics, debate, and a passion for asking questions. After a book club meeting in May 2023, Michael asked me, “Do you want to start a newspaper?” I couldn’t say no, especially to this intelligent, kind, funny and highly motivated young person. I encouraged Michael to reach out to Joey Young, owner of Kansas Publishing Ventures and publisher of Harvey County Now, for advice.
With his parents’ permission, Michael and I found an attorney who drew up the papers for The Hutchinson Tribune, LLC. We chose a newspaper name and masthead and published our first article on Substack on July 5, 2023. Michael ordered business cards, I ordered reporter’s notebooks, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Our primary focus was government: city, county and school board news. I wanted to write about theater and entertainment, conventions and community events. John Mesh approached us in August 2023 to write local sports, and he has diligently covered area prep teams, Hutchinson Community College traveling teams and the multiple sports tournaments and events which draw participants and spectators from across the state and nation.
We’ve hired contractors to help us cover some stories our schedules didn’t allow.
Michael is headed to the University of Kansas on a full-ride John P. Kaiser Scholarship to join the storied William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications. I wish him the best and I am excited that he has the opportunity to learn at a top-ranked school without incurring crippling debt. I also want our talented youth to return, put down roots, and invest in the community.
We want The Hutchinson Tribune to continue growing and covering more, so it made sense to sell to someone with a proven track record and a passion for local news, and who would establish a physical presence in Hutchinson.
Change can be bittersweet. I am saying goodbye to a new vocation and business that has consumed my time and energy for the last two years, but I am proud of having contributed to a successful endeavor that subverted and exceeded expectations.
I am grateful that someone has seen that value and is invested in creating a superior experience.
No worries; I am still salty about property taxes and Evergy’s never-ending demands to tunnel deeper into our wallets, red light runners and College Grove’s uneven sidewalks.
Thank you, readers. We could not have done any of this without you.
