Country Editor

by Henry Beetle Hough

Hough, Henry Beetle

Paperback

Published January 1, 1974

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm amazed at how many of Hough's stories from 80-90 years ago would still resonate today with anyone who's been involved in community journalism, as I have for the past two decades. Some of it's dated, of course, but his tales of grappling with the now-archaic technology are actually pretty fascinating. And his stories of persnickety readers, haughty advertisers and quirky correspondents -- not to mention the differences between city dailies and country weeklies, and why it's a fool's errand to run the latter like the former -- feel like they could have been written yesterday.

I think I liked it most when Hough would wax philosophical about his chosen profession, with this passage being my favorite: "... We knew already that it is impossible to compare the return a country newspaper will make on an investment with the return to be expected from some other enterprises. The greatest gain from the paper is the job one would otherwise not have, the life one would otherwise not live."

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just finished reading "Country Editor" by Henry Beetle Hough, based on his experiences at the Vineyard Gazette, from the 1910s-1940s. Not much changes at a country weekly. Replace "linotype machine broke" with "InDesign crashed" and it's a pretty accurate description of my life. Loved this.