One thing's for certain.

Newspapers are a way of life for their communities.

That seems to be a common theme as I travel around the country going from newspaper to newspaper. The pundits say print media is dead. Well, before the naysayers put the final -30- on newspapers, perhaps they should visit small town America and see what newspapers mean there.

One thing newspaper people around the country LOVE to do is complain.

We complain about everything. Every day. Just like the product we produce, you can count on newsies complaining.

Too much work. Impossible deadlines. Sales reps. Ad builders. Editors. Management. Readers. Lousy press work.

I've been in lots, and I mean lots, of newspapers.

Gannett properties. McClatchy. Lee. Dow Jones. Been in them all over the country.

Love ‘em. They’re all special and unique in their own way.

One of the things I notice, more now than before, are managers. You know, the folks with the offices?

And the thing I notice about them, by and large, is that they don't leave their offices very much.

Ah, the dawn of a new year.

When I was in college, the new year was a time of nut up, or shut up. The holiday season on the desk behind us (and who in newspaper land hasn’t worked a holiday eve with “speed up” deadlines??) and it was time to get back to the serious work of newspapering.

I used to wonder why January brought so many sour faces around the newspapers I have worked at. Why, it was the beginning of a new year – new stories, new chances and of course, the same old, same old routine of putting out a paper and facing the blustery winter weather.

It was only after I entered the business side of newspapers did I understand the dire looks on various faces.

Yep, that’s right – the dreaded first quarter.