Dear Ashland: My last day, and a thank you for the big ideas

Dear Ashland, 

My time has come to move on. Yesterday marked my last day working as Ashland Source’s lead reporter. For those who don’t already know, I’ve accepted a job as a statehouse reporter for Gongwer News Service and State Affairs. 

I’m simultaneously thrilled and intimidated by the newness of this gig. It wasn’t so long ago I believed I didn’t belong in this industry. I’ve almost given up several times. 

It’s no secret that journalism is a hard job. Journalists across the nation face newsroom cuts and an ever-growing list of responsibilities as positions disappear. We face pressures to innovate ways to create revenue.

We also face an audience who, by and large, is skeptical of what it reads — and an audience who expects our product to be free.

It means the job has changed from what once was a mission of telling good, accurate stories to a more complicated one: do everything you once did, but also figure out how to pay for it. (Oh, and do all of that with AI acting as a backseat driver.)

It creates a lot of background noise, and sometimes it’s hard to make out the melody in a chorus of competing refrains. In my nearly five years in Ashland, I’ve worked to tell good, accurate stories, despite all the racket.

I hope you all have noticed my commitment to that simple mission, and my hope is that it continues in my absence.

My hunch is that it will. Here’s why: Ashland’s mission is also simple. Your goal is to make your county, your home, a place where achieving dreams is not only possible, but achievable for everyone. 

Don’t believe me? Below is a list of things and events that attempt to fulfill that mission.

It’s been a privilege to observe this county and to get to know the people here. You have your own unique perspective, culture and challenges.

From Linder’s spicy chicken quesadilla to the Copper Mug’s bananas foster or the rueben sandwich at Wedgewing, ya’ll know how to eat.

You feel passionately; you grieve hard together; you celebrate big; you aim high; you work hard; you try novel ideas; you honor veterans and law enforcement.

No such thing as ‘small towns’

I wouldn’t feel right only showcasing the good. You all know Ashland’s challenges and you all, generally, acknowledge there is room for improvement.

Yes, most of these challenges aren’t unique to Ashland County. These issues are pervasive. But solutions are unique, often local.

Here’s how I’d sum up what I’ve learned during my tenure covering Ashland County: There’s no such thing as small towns. Just small ideas.

Ashlanders do not have small ideas that are confined by geographic boundaries. Look intentionally and you’ll notice these big ideas in nearly every nook and cranny of the county’s 427 square miles.

So, for what it’s worth: here’s my unsolicited advice. 

Keep aiming high with big ideas, “small town” Ashland.