This is my last editorial for PGN. I’m leaving to take a job with the Peace Corps, and my departure is bittersweet.
Being editor of PGN is a hard job, but it’s rewarding.
When I became editor after six months as staff writer in 2006, I didn’t have a deep concept of the history of the paper, or of the mixed reputation it had at the time. I knew that people and organizations wouldn’t talk to us — I didn’t know who and I didn’t know why.
While I was trying to figure out how to put out a paper every week (with no training on that front), I also had to find these burned bridges and repair them. I felt strongly that the paper would not, could not be effective if we weren’t listening to and speaking with the community. And not “the LGBT community” as a homogenous static entity, but the LGBT community and all the constituencies that comprise it, give it life and make it interesting.
I knew, and still believe, that the mission of the paper is to enable the community to communicate internally and externally, to discuss problems, ideas and issues internally and with the larger mainstream community.
I am forever grateful to the people who made my job easier, who gave me the benefit of the doubt and trusted me to get their stories right. Thank you for taking our calls, talking to us, giving us feedback and letting me know when we got it right and when we got it wrong. Thank you for making me — and the paper — feel welcome. I’ve made contacts and friends, and I’ve learned from you all.
I am truly grateful for the staff of PGN, who put their hearts into their work every day. For the ad staff, without whom none of us would get paid, for their dogged approach every day to get the message out that this is a quality publication with a quality readership and it is worth it to advertise. For the support staff, who get the bills paid and get the paper out every week, you are appreciated.
For the production staff, thank you for staying late, for your patience with me when I changed my mind or when I made a decision you didn’t like, and for sharing your knowledge and expertise with me.
For my writers, photographers and freelancers, thank you for your dedication. Thank you for pitching me, for accepting and turning assignments around at the last minute and for being more organized than I.
For everyone at PGN, thank you for putting up with me on production day and making sure I had food, chocolate and tea to make it through. Thank you for not taking anything personally and for contributing to the team for the greater goal. Thank you for challenging yourselves to learn new skills, sharpen the ones you have and share them across the board.
And lastly, Mark Segal, thank you for trusting me with your baby. For letting me grow here, for (mostly) respecting my opinion and my right to voice it. For giving me feedback and having my back. I know Mark better than most, and despite the difficulties, I’ve been proud to work for him, for PGN.
My time here has meant a lot to me. I know that I’m leaving PGN in good hands, and in better shape than when I arrived. The LGBT community will always have a need for news. May PGN long meet that need.
