New duties coming into focus
Metro Editor John Stucke & I are putting some finishing touches on my new duties once the calendar turns over to 2017. On Wednesday, Jan. 4, you'll see my new 12-15-inch Huckleberries column in the daily newspaper. It'll look exactly like my old Sunday Huckleberries column, only shorter. It is scheduled to run 5X a week, Monday through Friday to start. I'll rely heavily on material from Huckleberries Online and related social media.
It'll affect what I do here somewhat. I'll need time each day to write the column -- 60 to 90 minutes. At this point, I plan to blog next year from 8 to 3, break to write the column and then post 30-45 minutes after I submit it to John and others in Spokane to proofread. I don't think you'll notice much difference because the period after 3 p.m. is relatively dead in terms of readership.
You can help me by being attentive to things going on around you. Bumpersnickers. Odd signs. Slices of life. Quotes. Attaboys. Etc. You've read Huckleberries long enough to know what I'll want.
Meanwhile, I've been practicing my 3-dot journalism, which is the old form of column writing launched by Walter Winchell and copied superbly by the late Herb Caen. Two of the great moments of my 47 years in the news biz involved Caen of the San Francisco Chronicle, whom I grew up reading. First great moment? I met him during a National Newspaper Columnists convention in Portland. Second great moment? I won a national award named after Caen from that group.
Not only do I appreciate new Editor Rob Curley's push to expand Huckleberries print, I'm pleased that he is a fan of three-dot journalism. Mebbe the new daily exposure can breathe some life into the old column form.
Some things will change here at Huckleberries Central. I'll try my best to make those changes as painless as possible. OTOH, I hope you'll like my expanded scribblings in the daily SR/DFO.
