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Taking wing from Phoenixville
By Patricia Matson
This is my last day as the editor of The Phoenix.
The six years I have worked here have provided me with a great deal of valuable experience, in technical and journalistic skills, as well as personal development and relationships to cherish. However, for a combination of private and professional reasons, I am making some changes in my life.
Other than moving south to be with some of my relatives, I am not sure what the future holds for me. I still love journalism and its goal of sharing information for the good of the community, and I expect to continue writing and editing, but the form that will take is up in the air.
As I prepare to take wing from The Phoenix and Phoenixville, I am reflecting on my time here. I want to take the opportunity to share what here made some of the biggest impacts on me.
The Power of the Press: On Dec. 12, 2002, The Phoenix’s lead story was “Council Hikes Taxes 43%” — followed the very next day by “Council to reopen budget.” Eventually, a far lower tax hike of 6.8% was implemented. One of the councilmen actually admitted to our reporter that his sight of the big headline in The Phoenix shocked him into pushing to get the tax hike revised. I was really impressed by that.
The Power of the People: In early 2006, the Chamber of Commerce organized a letter-writing campaign to alert county and state officials to the crumbling disrepair of the Gay Street Bridge. A public forum was held that March, attended by local, county and state officials, where citizens and business owners spoke passionately about their worries. Phoenixville continued to voice opinions with calls, letters and e-mails. Meanwhile, The Phoenix covered the campaign, with stories, weekly photos of the stressed structure, photos and columns. Finally, toward the end of April 2006, PennDOT agreed to an “accelerated design schedule” with planning and cost estimates to be completed by April 2007, and construction to begin in September/October 2007. Naturally, there have been a few delays since then, and the reconstruction is still ongoing. Nevertheless, it was an impressive achievement for Phoenixville (with The Phoenix’s help) to push a state bureaucracy like PennDOT into making a public commitment to speed up its schedule.
Winning Awards: I think The Phoenix’s most significant award, because it demonstrated our commitment and close ties to the community, was winning first place for Public Service in the 2007 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors contest (our circulation division included papers up to five times our size), for the Gay Street Bridge campaign. Also under my tenure, we won first place in Enterprise Reporting in the Pennsylvania APME 2008 contest, plus three awards in 2006, three awards in 2004, and three awards in 2003, for categories ranging from opinion columns to news reporting to sports coverage. Of course, personally, I am very proud of winning a 2006 PAPME award and a 2007 Suburban Newspapers of America award for editorials I had written.
Working on Writing: Before I came to The Phoenix, I was the Copy Desk Chief at the Daily Local News, which involved editing stories and laying out pages. I had never written anything for publication, unless you count my master’s thesis, a copy of which is presumably still in the stacks somewhere at Penn State. I had done a fair amount of creative and descriptive writing on my own, but at The Phoenix, the task of almost daily “Our View” editorials and weekly “Letting My Hair Down” columns really pushed my growth as a writer. Some of my favorite pieces over the years include “Nifty hats and the military mind” and “Police, community must try to build trust” (2002); “‘Gods and Generals,’ and ironies of war” (2003); “A slim majority is not the same as a mandate” (2004); “Affordable housing needed in area,” and a series of editorials about the Ironworks designation, ironmongery colors, and other Streetscapes issues (2005); “Rendell administration mistreats the media,” as part of the Gay Street Bridge campaign (2006); and “Roads shouldn’t be privatized” (2007). Unfortunately, the increasing pace of other duties here has made it impossible for me to keep writing as much as I would have preferred, although I have enjoyed doing a bit of reporting here and there in the last few months. I hope my next career move will allow me to do more in this area.
Fledglings’ Progress: It’s both a strength and a weakness for The Phoenix that people tend to come and go; it’s always painful to lose skilled people to the wider world, but it’s also energizing to have new people bring their talents here. Many of our incoming reporters and editors are already pretty capable when they start here, but I think I’ve helped with their professional growth, and certainly they have had the opportunity to gain plenty of experience. Some of those who departed veered into other career paths, but many have gone on to promotions at larger papers, which is certainly satisfying to see. Speaking of which, I know I am leaving the paper in good hands with Nick Danna, who will be replacing me. He has been the editor of our Morgantown affiliate, the Tri County Record, for a year, and has proven his ability and drive there; he also led The Phoenix’s recent redesign. He’ll take over my e-mail address, too, so you can contact him at editor@phoenixvillenews.com.
Colleagues: None of the last paragraph means that I take my other co-workers here for granted! From the public faces of The Phoenix, like Taggy, Dennis, Barry, Jason and Alexander, to behind-the-scenes helpers like Shirley, Laurin, Bobbi, Pushpa, Sherry and Teri, everyone has taught me something, with a good amount of fun along the way.
Community: I love the cultural diversity of the Phoenixville community, from summer’s BlobFest to winter’s Firebird Festival, from the blue-collar history of the Foundry to the arts community that fosters the Colonial Theatre, the Forge Theatre, the various art galleries and so much more, as well as the many organizations dedicated to helping others. I admire the people of Phoenixville, who display so much individual kindness and community spirit, and so much passion and, yes, fire. Okay, sometimes it gets pretty crazy, like the great Black/Blue lamppost controversy, and there have certainly been some public decisions that have disappointed me, but at heart, Phoenixville people care.
In summary, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to find so much fulfillment here, and I wish all the best to Phoenixville Newspapers and to everyone in the Phoenixville community. I will miss you.
This is my last day as the editor of The Phoenix.
The six years I have worked here have provided me with a great deal of valuable experience, in technical and journalistic skills, as well as personal development and relationships to cherish. However, for a combination of private and professional reasons, I am making some changes in my life.
Other than moving south to be with some of my relatives, I am not sure what the future holds for me. I still love journalism and its goal of sharing information for the good of the community, and I expect to continue writing and editing, but the form that will take is up in the air.
As I prepare to take wing from The Phoenix and Phoenixville, I am reflecting on my time here. I want to take the opportunity to share what here made some of the biggest impacts on me.
The Power of the Press: On Dec. 12, 2002, The Phoenix’s lead story was “Council Hikes Taxes 43%” — followed the very next day by “Council to reopen budget.” Eventually, a far lower tax hike of 6.8% was implemented. One of the councilmen actually admitted to our reporter that his sight of the big headline in The Phoenix shocked him into pushing to get the tax hike revised. I was really impressed by that.
The Power of the People: In early 2006, the Chamber of Commerce organized a letter-writing campaign to alert county and state officials to the crumbling disrepair of the Gay Street Bridge. A public forum was held that March, attended by local, county and state officials, where citizens and business owners spoke passionately about their worries. Phoenixville continued to voice opinions with calls, letters and e-mails. Meanwhile, The Phoenix covered the campaign, with stories, weekly photos of the stressed structure, photos and columns. Finally, toward the end of April 2006, PennDOT agreed to an “accelerated design schedule” with planning and cost estimates to be completed by April 2007, and construction to begin in September/October 2007. Naturally, there have been a few delays since then, and the reconstruction is still ongoing. Nevertheless, it was an impressive achievement for Phoenixville (with The Phoenix’s help) to push a state bureaucracy like PennDOT into making a public commitment to speed up its schedule.
Winning Awards: I think The Phoenix’s most significant award, because it demonstrated our commitment and close ties to the community, was winning first place for Public Service in the 2007 Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors contest (our circulation division included papers up to five times our size), for the Gay Street Bridge campaign. Also under my tenure, we won first place in Enterprise Reporting in the Pennsylvania APME 2008 contest, plus three awards in 2006, three awards in 2004, and three awards in 2003, for categories ranging from opinion columns to news reporting to sports coverage. Of course, personally, I am very proud of winning a 2006 PAPME award and a 2007 Suburban Newspapers of America award for editorials I had written.
Working on Writing: Before I came to The Phoenix, I was the Copy Desk Chief at the Daily Local News, which involved editing stories and laying out pages. I had never written anything for publication, unless you count my master’s thesis, a copy of which is presumably still in the stacks somewhere at Penn State. I had done a fair amount of creative and descriptive writing on my own, but at The Phoenix, the task of almost daily “Our View” editorials and weekly “Letting My Hair Down” columns really pushed my growth as a writer. Some of my favorite pieces over the years include “Nifty hats and the military mind” and “Police, community must try to build trust” (2002); “‘Gods and Generals,’ and ironies of war” (2003); “A slim majority is not the same as a mandate” (2004); “Affordable housing needed in area,” and a series of editorials about the Ironworks designation, ironmongery colors, and other Streetscapes issues (2005); “Rendell administration mistreats the media,” as part of the Gay Street Bridge campaign (2006); and “Roads shouldn’t be privatized” (2007). Unfortunately, the increasing pace of other duties here has made it impossible for me to keep writing as much as I would have preferred, although I have enjoyed doing a bit of reporting here and there in the last few months. I hope my next career move will allow me to do more in this area.
Fledglings’ Progress: It’s both a strength and a weakness for The Phoenix that people tend to come and go; it’s always painful to lose skilled people to the wider world, but it’s also energizing to have new people bring their talents here. Many of our incoming reporters and editors are already pretty capable when they start here, but I think I’ve helped with their professional growth, and certainly they have had the opportunity to gain plenty of experience. Some of those who departed veered into other career paths, but many have gone on to promotions at larger papers, which is certainly satisfying to see. Speaking of which, I know I am leaving the paper in good hands with Nick Danna, who will be replacing me. He has been the editor of our Morgantown affiliate, the Tri County Record, for a year, and has proven his ability and drive there; he also led The Phoenix’s recent redesign. He’ll take over my e-mail address, too, so you can contact him at editor@phoenixvillenews.com.
Colleagues: None of the last paragraph means that I take my other co-workers here for granted! From the public faces of The Phoenix, like Taggy, Dennis, Barry, Jason and Alexander, to behind-the-scenes helpers like Shirley, Laurin, Bobbi, Pushpa, Sherry and Teri, everyone has taught me something, with a good amount of fun along the way.
Community: I love the cultural diversity of the Phoenixville community, from summer’s BlobFest to winter’s Firebird Festival, from the blue-collar history of the Foundry to the arts community that fosters the Colonial Theatre, the Forge Theatre, the various art galleries and so much more, as well as the many organizations dedicated to helping others. I admire the people of Phoenixville, who display so much individual kindness and community spirit, and so much passion and, yes, fire. Okay, sometimes it gets pretty crazy, like the great Black/Blue lamppost controversy, and there have certainly been some public decisions that have disappointed me, but at heart, Phoenixville people care.
In summary, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to find so much fulfillment here, and I wish all the best to Phoenixville Newspapers and to everyone in the Phoenixville community. I will miss you.
posted by The Phoenix Files at
7:33 AM
1 Comments:
I think Trish did a good job. We wish her weel and will miss her.
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