A new day dawning
Hoch Publishing Company and the Marion County Record have gone through a gentle transition phase in the past few months.
Bill and Joan Meyer have decided to "slow down" and have turned over daily operations of this newspaper to a well-trained and dedicated staff.
Kathy Hageman has taken over the social news writing, covering city hall, and copy editing chores. We're glad to have her back after a brief stint in Osborne.
We also welcome Susan Cooper to the staff. She has replaced Jerry Buxton. Cooper will cover county government, the hospital district, and Marion school district, as well as other news events in an effort to keep readers informed about Marion County.
Hageman and Cooper join longtime staff writer Rowena Plett. She will continue her coverage of northern Marion County, the Centre school district, and special features.
The staff of the Marion County Record is excited about the future — not only the future of the newspaper but the future of Marion. We are dedicated to providing a community newspaper worthy of our readers.
We're not a brand new staff. Most of us have years, even decades of experience. We do have new ideas and are excited about taking the Marion County Record into the 21st century. Perhaps the Ol' Thing is getting a bit younger.
We're not reinventing the wheel. We're getting back to the basics of community journalism. We want to provide the best and most informative coverage we can.
We'll focus coverage on news-you-can-use. For example, instead of telling you the city plans to raise taxes, we want to tell you why and how it will affect you. Our goal is to provide a reliable source of information about Marion and Marion County.
We need your help. Our door is open. We welcome any and all news tips, ideas, and comments. We want to know what you think. We want to know when we do something wrong. And we like to hear when we do something right.
We're in the communications business and we want to communicate with you, the reader.
The Marion County Record has been here for 134 years. We're not flashy. We don't go in for sensationalistic journalism or eye-popping design. We're solid, committed, and dedicated to this town and this county.
We may have new ideas but we're still the same Ol' Thing. It's just a new day dawning.
— DONNA BERNHARDT
