A Year of Progress

Our opinion/ A time for reflection

By John Strand
Staff Writer

This issue of HPR wraps our year up as we prepare to take our ritualistic two week vacation and head to Mexico to brainstorm and connect with our roots. We invariably come back to Fargo with new ideas, fresh outlooks and an appreciation for where we’ve been and where we are coming home to… so don’t be surprised that HPR will not hit the streets again until Jan. 12, 2012.

That said, looking back over the calendar year, 2011, we cannot be more pleased. Most notably, The Little Newspaper That Could landed its own home, an historic brownstone on 2nd Ave. North and 8th Street in downtown Fargo. The grand old building not only serves as home to HPR, but to our non-profit The People’s Press Project, and it conveniently has an apartment for each of HPR’s two owners up above.

It was a big move and will have a big impact on our efforts and activities for years to come. We look forward to a public grand opening scheduled for the weekend of Feb. 18, at which time HPR and The People’s Press Project will host our annual community gathering at the Plains Art Museum.

That’s the brick and mortar side of our year just ending. There’s certainly more to the story, of course. The High Plains Reader, in its 18th year, is hitting a new stride. We could not be prouder.

Cindy Gomez-Schempp has formally concluded her phase-in period and is now, what we will call, a seasoned editor-in-chief. She was - - and still is - - a great choice and we eagerly look forward to her leadership further evolving Reader and PPP content. She also does an extraordinary job coaching and leading the entire editorial team, and we cannot thank them enough, as well, for their contribution to newspaper stories, proofing and editing, as well as print and online presentation.

Cindy’s husband, Duke Gomez-Schempp, who many know of as the pivot person behind the progressive non-profit People Escaping Poverty Project (PEPP) organization for decades, is key to our organizational effort, particularly as the web master for HPR1.com and as the co-mover and shaker along with his wife in directing the People’s Press Project (http://thepeoplespressproject.org) from inception to fruition.

We sincerely believe that HPR’s cross partnership with the PPP is a move that puts both our organizations ahead of the curve, particularly as new media affect the Fourth Estate and how media exists in the technologically advancing digital world at the pace it’s going. PPP is most noted for televising and presenting on the Internet government subdivision meetings such as Cass County Commission and Fargo School Board, both of which were non-transparent to the general public before the People’s Press Project stepped up to the plate. It’s a huge community service and we commend the PPP for championing such new media approaches, not to overlook the numerous other efforts the group undertakes. Also, hats off to Duke for recent national recognition for being a leader in social justice activism and non-profit activities.

Back to the High Plains Reader, we knock on wood that our position in the community is so sound. After this many years, we’ve earned a place in the broader community, and in fact are recognized as a voice of the people not only here but in the region and state. We’ve significantly improved our product offering in the past short while, going from mostly black and white to predominately color, and then improving the paper stock even so as to present a vibrant publication to our estimated 30,000 readers weekly. Coming shortly will be yet another generation of our website that will raise the bar even further, while improving information access and interactivity with the community we serve.

We heartily thank our contributors, our advertisers, our sales, editorial and distribution staff. The Little Newspaper That Could is because of a combined effort of countless folks, and we admit that. We are also committed to remaining independently owned, locally based, and people oriented.

So, from all of us, particularly co-owners publisher Raul Gomez and sales director John Strand, we wish each of you a happy holiday and a prosperous and healthy new year.

See you in 2012. And thanks for everything!

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