(00:00:00) We are we are the oldest newspaper in the nation continues ownership by one family. We were interested in 1870. Although we had ancestors that were in the newspaper business as early as 1850 for in Stillwater The Gazette however was started in 1870. So this makes this a hundred and eight years as of last August 6th. We were an old letter press establishment until May of 1969. We were one of the Pioneers in the computerized electronic field 44 printed production. We use sophisticated equipment. We are a self-contained plant. We do every bit of the operation ourselves from the originating of the copy from the editor managing editor desk or reporters desk back out composed and back out proof read corrected paste it up. We are an offset process. We have our own camera. We make our own plates and reproduce our own paper with a four-unit offset cuts are oppressed. (00:01:08) So you're pretty (00:01:09) self-sufficient, we are self-sufficient and we publish only our own product. We are not what they call Central printers. We do not print other newspapers or (00:01:21) Productions How is it that you can get away with that with only publishing the paper so many smaller town newspapers have to do everything. They have to print wedding announcements and the Shopper and all of the other kinds of things in addition in order to stay afloat. How is it that you managed to do not do that (00:01:39) red chair bag is a production of a newspaper. That's our Prime purpose. We had one time did have a job shop a Book Bindery and we did produce by a line of type in hot metal production our paper, but we found that we could no longer do that and take care of our customers and do it in an orderly fashion and a good professional fashion. So that was in 69 going back in here where we made the transition took all of the Letterpress equipment out and Installed good equipment through the help financial help of others and it has paid off. It is much simpler. You wouldn't believe this but it's so when we were in Letterpress production, we used four hundred men hours per week more than we're using right now not necessarily as it's so that the prophet through less expense help ways was given to the Gazette and management. We prorate it amongst ourselves our help and and we call it profit-sharing by raising their hourly wage and putting them on a salary basis. Nobody punches a clock here. They're all on their own if they get the paper out in 35 hours fine, if you get it in 32 fine if it takes 40 weather still paid for that. So we have a real good family. We have very little turnover here my idea I guess is to surround myself with good help and good equipment get a first-class job done and maintain (00:03:07) Integrity. We're back in one corner of the building tell me where we are right (00:03:13) now. You're in the this room was No use for newsprint until we put a functional Warehouse on the front end of this building but it does still contain all of the files from August 6th 1870 up through 1955. Then we went to microfilm. And since that time all of these files have been microfilmed and there's a copy of every one of them every one of these papers in the public library as well as in our safe right here and also the Minnesota Historical Society has a complete set of microfilm copies everything from August 6th 1870 right to the current day. Well not not including perhaps his last three month period because it's done on a three-month basis, but these files as you can see are pretty tender and they represent a represent a lot of work on the part of John and my predecessors. They are the guys if I had not had them I wouldn't have had the nucleus to go from wouldn't have the product of got today and neither was John. (00:04:14) John what's it like to be fifth-generation newspaper publisher? Well, I've been here for years now (00:04:22) and like a lot of people say it's (00:04:24) never easy, you know working for your father. I can honestly say I enjoyed and I've (00:04:31) learned one heck of a lot about the newspaper business in four years, which I'm sure (00:04:36) other people working in the same capacity or the (00:04:39) same length of time in the newspaper business. Maybe don't have the (00:04:43) chance to learn (00:04:47) but I look forward to you know to the fifth generation and the sixth and the seventh after that. We're going to hang on around here. Just as long as we can keep producing Easton's (00:05:01) when you were a kid. Did you come down and hang out down here? Well, I (00:05:04) worked here on and off mostly on the weekly paper inserting things do a little (00:05:09) janitorial work. I (00:05:12) left here in 1960. I went in the Navy for 14 years and came back here (00:05:16) 1974 Guess (00:05:21) I always in the back of my mind when I was in the Navy and knew that someday, I would be coming back here. Just didn't know when (00:05:29) 1974 the time was right. I got out and I'm enjoying myself. What kind of a guy is your dad to work for? Well, (00:05:43) I told you before I don't think it's ever easy to (00:05:47) work work for your for anybody's father. If you're a (00:05:50) son maybe like I told you before I've just learned hopefully learn the business and for years. I learned it from a pro and grateful for the chance to work with him on this. He asked me how it is like working for him. It's tough no doubt about it. But then anything that's worthwhile is tough. Do you have differences of opinion as (00:06:17) to where you'd like to see the paper go? (00:06:20) I don't think I know I don't think we have any differences of opinion in that line from a young younger. Fella an older fellow can learn also and he comes forth with some pretty darn good ideas. He's come up with some he's really come up with some better ideas of late than I possibly could have come up but I kind of relaxed to throw the ball to him and let him come back with an answer that would perhaps help us best with our competition. We don't have much competition here, but you do have some in any business (00:06:51) relatively few people. It seems to me grow up in families where their father and grandfather were of a particular trade a particular profession and where they see their children following that line of work to what what's it feel like what do you think about is there a special sense in this family of closeness? A dedication to the (00:07:15) paper. Well, I think I think Rich that that you get hooked in this business. I know John is and I'm quite sure that son-in-law Bob Liberty is also didn't take Bob very long to make up his mind to come to work for us. And Bobby is the managing editor today and he is only been here about five years. (00:07:36) Do you feel a pressure ever when you see other newspapers of the size of the Stillwater Gazette being bought out by big corporations to ever feel the pressure to do that or the desire to do it to just forget the whole thing and sell out for a nice some and stay in California for the whole year. (00:07:53) No. I'm not I'm not interested in that John is on paper as far as buying the newspapers concerned right now and in a matter of eight ten years, he'll have it all licked and paid for and that will maintain it it within the East and family. I will have had my considerable investment out of it and I am well satisfied with that and John hopefully we'll take care of John Daniel my And in the same manner that I've done with him, (00:08:17) what do you think of that Trend? It does seem to be a trend of papers of the size of the Gazette being bought out rather (00:08:22) rapidly. Well, it destroys the uniqueness of a business because nobody's going to run the business the same way that we do it. We may run it, right? We may run it wrong. But we do have a good image unqualified Integrity in this Valley and have had for many many years. That's hard to buy. You can't buy it (00:08:41) talking about buying newspapers. I have heard from other journalists who are dissatisfied with big-city life as to how they'd like to take off and go somewhere in the country the small town in rural, Minnesota The Dakotas or Iowa and find a nice little either weekly or Daily Newspaper probably a weekly newspaper and and buy it and settle down and go to work on it. What kind of work terms of hours per week can a person expect if one is toying with that idea. I'll ask you first Phil. Well, as far as ours are (00:09:12) concerned a lot more than what Land on I can tell them that and if he did not have any background in the journalism business, it is a tough one to crack. We have so many idiosyncrasies in this business nitpick and details that if they're not nipped in the bud they become big issues and I'm afraid that anybody who has not been in the journalism business or is not oriented to the newspaper business in any way going into it blind. It'll be just like a kid when he first goes to school. He goes to kindergarten because he does know anything about the first grade and you have to advance through that I think that I've had tremendous advantages here through being able to work in the early years with my grandfather who was a journalist then also at the same time and later, of course with my father who was a hell of a good businessman and I employ almost a hundred percent of his business approaches. We simplify our business we feel that if you if you do it the right way, you don't have to go back over (00:10:12) it John. What do you What's your advice to to journalist who's thinking about going out neither setting up a small town newspaper or buying one? (00:10:22) Well, like my dad said and I again, I'm not I'm still a young pup in his field but there's a heck of a lot of work to it. (00:10:31) Not just a journalistic (00:10:32) part of it, but he's never going to make it unless he has some revenue and it's going to come through advertising. So he's looking at you know at three parts of it the business part the journalistic journalism part and the and the advertising part and I'm sure there's no one man that they've made yet that's going to be able to do all three of them by himself and still get an hour's worth of sleep a day. So I'd like to (00:10:57) talk for a minute about the journalistic approach of the paper and I'm wondering if in a town the size of Stillwater about 10,000 people if there's a tendency for your paper to be Chamber of Commerce of sorts in other words to cover the kinds of stories. Is that relate to promoting the community or the communities businesses or do you make an effort to to in addition to that or instead of that cover other kinds of stories? (00:11:23) We do bought that is one thing that I am a civic-minded and I do everything I can for my hometown in Stillwater and I'm sure that it's going to wear off on John he's going to he's going to try to do the same thing. We do the best we can with what we've got and we do well we promote still water before we do anything else. In other words local news is our bag and we cover as much of it as we can and we have a good input from responsible people in the school system in the county system in the city system and so forth (00:11:57) when you say input, what do you mean (00:11:59) well pictures stories cut lines Etc things that are of great importance Athletics and and whatever whatever the school Embraces (00:12:09) John as you I'm sure know a lots of Big City Newspapers at least are moving. To food sections Health sections entertainment sections to spice up their papers and grab ahold of declining subscription rate is the Stillwater Gazette making any effort in that direction at all. (00:12:32) Like my dad said, we we are a local newspaper and (00:12:37) we do put together a special sections (00:12:39) during the year, but we thrive on the fact that we publish local news of Stillwater and us and the st. Croix River Valley and any newspaper. I think it's the readability that going to keep a newspaper going and people don't buy it. You know, there goes your newspaper But there again, we strive to carry just as much local news is we can we do carry a national International also, but heck we got four five thousand reporters out there and they're they're down here every day on the telephone. Calling in little stories at that they think are important and a lot of them are bored enough. They would get in the paper, (00:13:22) but for 5,000 a (00:13:24) Oliver Oliver all of our readers, they all have an input into the paper and that's why we want to keep it going. I really don't want to see think that we have to embellish the paper with special sections on outdoor living (00:13:39) things like this that the Metro papers are doing our (00:13:43) subscription specific options are steadily (00:13:46) going up Phil as we're standing here looking at these archives. I wonder if you can recount a particular incident that the paper is covered over its past 108 years that sticks out in your mind as being important or where the paper is served particular needs of the (00:14:04) community. Well, we have two specific Productions one in 1970, which was The Gazette Centennial. And then of course and that was a special edition and required one heck of a lot of work and a lot of research we printed around and our Centennial Edition. We haven't got a one left. In fact, they're very valuable we printed I believe the country 7677 hundred in that instance and then the second and probably the best production that we've ever had to my knowledge. Anyway, my working days here is the bicentennial issue which I just gave you and what you're going to find most interesting you're going to get a lot of history of of not only the Gazette end of and the men behind it and and its workers but you're also going to get a lot of important history on a national basis where we have used outstanding front pages in Annenberg down. Our world war one declared or the Armistice Day Armistice signed and things of this nature and this paper. Quite a publication a hundred and ten Pages for a daily paper for July 1 or 76 was quite an (00:15:20) effort and one last question and that has to do with the history of the town of Stillwater the sign out on the highway as you come into Stillwater says that this is the birthplace of Minnesota and that refers to the convention that was held here in the late 1840s to discuss first, Minnesota's becoming a territory and and then a state and I guess I'm wondering if the newspaper has a special place in it for local and Regional politics. (00:15:49) Oh surely we do and another thing that that we don't we don't duck controversial issues. We are perhaps conservative in our approach. I feel this that there are three sides any story mine yours in the right one and we want to come as close to the right one. Of course as we can we are independent newspaper. Our leanings are toward the conservative end all however, there certainly is good marriage in the center line and a little bit the left of that but very very little to the left of (00:16:27) it Phil Eastern and John Easton. Thanks very much for talking with me.