PORT TOWNSEND — The new publisher of the Peninsula Daily News, Forks Forum and Sequim Gazette newspapers related stories from his own past Monday to demonstrate how investing in individuals can change lives.
“Whether you are working for the United Way or the Peninsula Home Fund or a nonprofit or at your church, what you do makes a difference to the people that you are stepping forward to help,” Terry Ward told about 30 people at the Jefferson County Chamber of Commerce meeting.
“You also have the opportunity to invest in somebody’s life. You don’t have to give them all of your resources, but you can share some of your wisdom and try to mentor them to where they are inspired to do something better with their lives.”
Ward told of his childhood, when his widowed mother with four small children in tow was travelling around the country, homeless, and they were living in a California campground as Christmas approached.
His mother attempted to lower her children’s expectations about holiday gifts, but when a four-year-old Terry left the tent Christmas morning, he was greeted by an array of presents left by the park rangers.
A few years later, Ward was in the midst of a rebellious youth when the publisher of the local newspaper called him to ask whether he wanted a writing job.
“I told him that I didn’t know anything about the newspaper business. I was still in high school,” Ward said.
“He said, ‘don’t worry; I’ll teach you, I’ll train you,’ and took me under his wing.
“He saw a kid that needed some direction in his life and began to invest in me.”
Ward said these events drive who he is now, and that he thinks of the park rangers’ kindness every single day — even though they have probably long forgotten their generous act.
“The park rangers wanted to make sure that people in need were taken care of, even if it was only for a day,” he said.
Ward said he feels that journalism is a noble profession.
“On the news side, we have an obligation to make sure we are reporting accurately and presenting that information in a way where people understand why it is important to them,” Ward said.
“On the business side, we are not in the business of selling advertising — we are in the businesses of helping businesses grow.”
Ward is also publisher of the Olympic Peninsula Homes-Land real estate magazine.
Ward said he has not decided what changes he will make at the newspaper aside from one: the redesign of the Peninsula Daily News website.
“We have to change that. We have to do something different,” he said.
“We serve our audience in multiple ways — through advertising, information, through all the social platforms. We know we have a ways to go to continue to grow upon them.”
Ward said that one revenue solution is to ask readers to complete a short survey before reading an article, for which the newspaper will earn 5 cents from Google for each view.
This process, he said, could end up funding the long-form journalism that the readers want.
Ward said he admired the weekly Sequim Gazette and Port Townsend/Jefferson County Leader for their ability to present those long-form pieces that cover issues in depth.
“Weekly newspapers have the ability to do those long-form pieces because they have a longer deadline,” Ward said.
“I believe we aren’t competitors [with the Leader]. We complement each other.”
Ward said that newspapers are all looking for new revenue streams because of competition from online sources.
“We made a mistake in the industry years ago when we decided to give everything away for free. Now we are trying to put that genie back in the bottle,” he said.
One policy that will not change is that the paper will not endorse political candidates, although it is creating an editorial board that could publish opinions and analysis about selected issues.
“As a newspaper we have a duty to bring in another view of the information,” he said.
“We get access to information that people don’t have access to, and it’s our job to make sense of that information for the readers and let them know why it’s important.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.