Four months after acting on impulse, what has a non-journalist local hero learned about the romance and reality of journalism?

Originally published by Jacqui Banaszynki on Nieman

Fantasies die hard, or so it is said. And perhaps they are more stubborn in the hard-knocks, real-life world of newspapering. Every reporter is rumored to have a novel tucked in some hidden file in their desk or on their computer. Every publisher dreams of becoming the visionary voice of the community. Every everyone (reporter, photographer, editor, publisher) dreams of winning the Big P. (aka Pulitzer Prize, which, by the way, have now been announced for 2020.)

Originally published by Chip Scanlan on Nieman Storyboard

Were it not for “Citizen Kane,” the tiny town of Downieville, Calif., would be just the latest in a long list of communities without a newspaper.

But one night late last year, Carl Butz was watching the Orson Welles drama about a newspaper magnate, and saw a new future for himself. He knew that the longtime owner of his hometown paper, The Mountain Messenger, the state’s oldest weekly paper, was set to retire and sunset the paper with him. Watching the screen, Butz thought, I can do that.

By Katie O’Hara-Kelly

Black Bears have been conspicuously absent in our neighborhood the past few months.  I saw a bear track in the snow in January, but no tracks since then. We haven’t even seen any bear scat locally!  Black Bears are primarily nocturnal, but I have seen them many times during the day.  They should be out foraging on insects, carrion, small to medium size mammals (mainly rodents), and vegetation at this time of year.  

Running a small town newspaper isn’t always the most straightforward job. Some days you are fielding stories from multiple correspondents, laying out the weekly design, or in this case making the deliveries. In our case, owner Carl Butz has taken over the delivery route for The Mountain Messenger and is having more fun with it than ever.

On Thursday morning Carl takes a drive from Downieville to Quincy to personally pick up all the papers that are printed for the week. He then proceeds to make his way around Northern California suppling local business’ with their respective copies to distribute. Carl takes advantage of this journey and is quoted saying how much it brings him back to his childhood.

Due to the increased safety concerns stemming from Covid-19, Carl is shown above sporting his homemade mask to protect himself and others from possible exposure. So if you are a subscriber or a reader of The Mountain Messenger chances are Carl is the one that got that paper delivered adding the ever so personal touch to an industry moving in the other direction.