A bitter pill

To our readers,

Today will be my last day as a reporter for the Havre Daily News, and I want to bid the paper and the community it serves a fond farewell.

I want to.

I want for my final thoughts to be about the people I’ve met, the community I did my best to serve, the memories I’ve made and how thankful I am for them, and every word of the parting letter I want to write would be true.

However, I’m afraid my final thoughts cannot be about those things, at least not entirely, because a recent change announced at the paper, that the Havre Daily News is becoming a weekly paper, compels me to respond as someone who’s been a reporter much longer than most of my fellow reporters during my tenure and my predecessors.

First, I want people to know that my departure is not a result of the paper’s shift to a weekly publication. I had announced my departure well before the change was announced to staff.

I am leaving to help a family member in need on the West Coast, and I leave with only the fondest memories of everyone I worked with at the Havre Daily, and indeed none of the people whose work actually makes the paper influenced this decision.

It’s true what they say Havre (and the Hi-Line as a whole) Has It, whether “It” is a thriving culture, a wealth of community events, local political happenings or problems to solve.

There is more than enough “It” to fill a daily newspaper, and far too much “It” for a weekly paper to cover.

But even the most devoted news team needs support to thrive.

That support comes from having enough reporters and staff being paid what their work is worth and from having owners who care about the paper — the people who actually make it — and the community it serves.

Unfortunately, the Havre Daily News, or whatever it will become May 1, has neither of those things.

However, instead of anger dominating my final thoughts too heavily I do want to briefly thank the many people who made me feel welcome in a new community and whose work is worth more than my words can possibly reflect.

Thank you to my editor Tim, a veritable walking encyclopedia of local history, who taught and believed in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself, and who poured his soul into the paper and the community no matter what.

Thank you to my colleague Pam whose wit, intelligence and perseverance in the face of incredible personal struggle will continue to inspire me to be better, and whose proofreading made my work bearable to read.

Thank you to Stephen for powering through some incredibly stressful mornings and somehow making our ancient technology work and to my publishers Stacy, George and Don for advocating for us and being generally great people to work for.

Thank you to those on the dark side of the paper — advertising — for always doing their best even in difficult circumstances and always being positive to boot.

And thank you everyone who has done the hard work of printing and distributing and actually getting the paper into people’s hands for their labor.

Thank you to all of the reporters I have worked with over the past few years, particularly Rachel Jamieson, who made me feel worthwhile during a trying time in my life.

Thank you to everyone in the community for making me feel welcome and for the memories I will take with me. I hope I have served you well.

And I’m sorry that my parting thoughts aren’t spent giving you all the credit you truly deserve. A bitter pill indeed.

Farewell,

Patrick Johnston