BARB BIERMAN BATIE, LOCAL CORRESPONDENT

As the pandemic descended upon us in 2020, a popular buzzword entered our vernacular. The word “pivot” took on a whole new meaning and for those of us in ag country, it certainly wasn’t referring to a center pivot irrigation system.

Rather millions “pivoted” from working in offices to working at home, from classroom learning to distance learning and for some a total switch in careers. In short, pivot meant turning to something totally new, and at least in pandemic terms, often an unknown. Last week at the age of 63 I made a major life pivot.

By now most of you know that the Gothenburg Times and Tri City Tribune abruptly ceased publication with the last edition coming out on July 28. The Trib is where I started my newspaper career 41 years ago on Feb. 3, 1981. I stayed for three years before moving back to my hometown of Battle Creek to help my brother with the farm after my father’s cancer diagnosis in 1983. In the ensuing 15 months I also worked for the Norfolk Daily News.

I returned to Dawson County in June 1985 after marrying the farmer who got tired of driving 190 miles on the weekends to see me. For the next 37 years I was a freelancer serving as a correspondent for the North Platte Telegraph, the Lexington Clipper-Herald and several farm magazines. From 2003-2008 I worked parttime for the Clipper-Herald and returned to freelancing for my old boss, Dean Dorsey, in 2009. From then until July 29, I worked for the Trib.

My pivot has brought me to what is now the third incarnation of the Cozad Local. The Local was founded in 1908 and lasted through the early 1960s. A brief revival of the Local occurred in 1970, but after two years, that owner decided to pursue other interests and the name faded back into Cozad history. Until last year, that is, when Syndicate Publishing added the Cozad Local to the area publication list after launching the Gothenburg Leader in 2019.

After 41 years in the news business, I knew I couldn’t give up writing cold turkey and so did my former boss and now regional publisher for Syndicate, Terrie Baker. One phone call and a quick interview and here I am folks.

Losing a local paper is like the death of a dear friend, and sadly, is an occurrence happening all too frequently these days in the newspaper industry. I have had more friends lose jobs in the last decade than can be counted on fingers and toes and now I am among them.

There are any number of contributing factors: cost of newsprint and mailing, people’s demand for more immediate news in this ever-evolving digital age, loss of advertising, and more. A distrust of national media has edged over into regional and local publications and that is the hardest pill of all to swallow. When local news is lost, so is local history and the chance for dialogue on issues of local importance.

So, here’s my pitch to the Local communities. Those who were loyal Times and Trib subscribers, who enjoy the feel of a paper in their hands with a morning cup of coffee, you are blessed in that you have a local option. Check out both papers on the web, pick up a copy at their downtown offices or a local newsstand, or better yet, sign on the dotted line and get yourself a subscription to be delivered to your home each week.

I’ll be writing Whirlwinds just as I have for the last 13 years in hopes to leave you with a chuckle, a smile or on occasion, some serious food for thought. As we – the Syndicate team and I – work to find a niche for my other reporting skills there will also be new feature stories.

Continue to engage with your local paper, after all you now know what it’s like to lose a local news source. Let’s not let that happen again.