Rhonda Silence: Editor of Cook County News Herald This interview was conducted on Jan. 28, 2011.

Jon Collins: Thank you very much for talking to me. So I guess probably the best place for us to start is who you are and what you do. Rhonda Silence: Ok, Im Rhonda Silence and Im the editor of the Cook County Herald in Grand Marais, Minnesota. Collins: How did you, when did you get into journalism> Silence: Actually, accidentally. When I was a kid I used to make newspapers with family news, but I didnt go to college for journalism. And I didnt really pursue that as a career but every job I ever had I ended up writing and I did a lot of newsletters and things. So when I moved back to my hometown of Grand Marais, I moved away for many years. When I moved back there was a job for a freelance reporter to cover Lutsen town meetings and I was like, well maybe I can do it. And I did it. And I started getting, doing more and more things and eventually I was hired full time at the News Herald, and Im the editor o f the News Herald now. Collins: Were you surprised that it appealed to you so much when you started? Silence: I was since I didnt have the training in it. I think a lot of writing is just plain a knack for it. I dont have, I always say when I retire Im going to write a book, Im going to write The Adventures of an Amateur Editor. Because Im learning on the fly, and theres a lot of things that I dont know. Thats why its great to come to the Minnesota Newspaper Convention and things like that and do a lot of reading and so forth and just trial and error. Doing a story that you go, oh, ok, thats not the best thing to do. But yeah, I just like to write. Writing is what I do. Silence: That is kind of a trick question. The Cook County News Herald, this April will celebrate its 120th year of publication, but I started working at the News Herald, the Cook County News Herald in 1995 as a freelancer. And shortly after that Murphy McGuiness Media took over, bought the little hometown paper and shortly after that, oh dear, shortly after that my coworker left the News Herald and founded his own paper, cause he wanted a local newspaper, so it was the Cook County Star and he asked me to come on board there. And I did come on there, I went from freelance writer to editor in boom, a day. But we did it and the Cook County Star was successful for almost ten years and we were successful enough that my boss was able to buy the News Herald. So now Im editor of the News Herald. Just kind of full circle. Its very hard to say; you said how long has our paper been around, its kind of a trick question.

Collins: Thankful thing that they didnt name it the News Herald Star. Silence: Ohhh see, we could have dropped one. We could have been the Star Herald or the Star News or something like that. I was kind of lobbying for that but my boss really wanted to go with his father had owned the paper before him, the News Herald, before him, and that was the old, old paper and that that was paper in the community when I was growing up, so we went with the traditional name. Collins: Its got to have some water with it. Silence: I think it does. I think it does. Its kind of fun, like I said, it was the paper when I was growing up. And I remember the editor was Aide Tofte, was the fellow who was the editor. And so when I do get in a bind, I try to think, ok what would Aide Tofte do? He was a very upright citizen and honorable and did his best and so we just try to follow his footsteps. Silence: It was a lot more unapproachable than it is now. Although maybe not. Maybe I just wasnt one of those kids that was in a lot of events, because it seems like now, to be in the paper now, theyre like, eh, whatever. The Cub Scouts are in, the Girl Scouts are in, theyre always in. When I was a kid the editor seemed like this really big important person. Now Im like, oh, no, the editors not important at all. Collins: So when you started working, what were your colleagues like? What was the future of the news world? Silence: When I very first started working for the News Herald as a freelancer, the editor at that time was, oh my gosh, Steve Fernlund and he was the neatest guy. He was real neat; he gave me a chance out of nowhere. Just talked to him and he was like, ok, you got the job. And it was very, were a small community, so pretty laid back. And then when we started the other paper, when I helped my boss start the Cook County Star, we had such a small staff it was my boss, who did layout, and I was editor slash writer photographer and that was it and his wife was the office manager. So there was three of us to do a paper. And our first paper was only eight pages. And the biggest paper we ever did was probably 16 pages. And then we eventually hired on a couple people now and then, and were still kind of laid back. Its getting more and more, theres a lot of issues in the community, a lot of governmental things, and the more staff you hire the more were able to cover and the more complicated things get, but were still kind of laid back. Collins: What sort of stories do you all do? What sort of stories do you like best? Silence: Oh, features. Features are fun. But we do everything. Its always fun to do a feature on, well for example, a few months ago I did a story on a lady that

rescued a hawk, and it was literally living in her house as it recuperated. I did a story on that. And things like that, I did a story on this lady named Wilma Leeps, shes 100 years old and shes still living in her apartment. I did a feature on her. Things like, those are the really fun things to and the nice warm fuzzy things to do, but we cover everything. Cook County is fairly large, has a very low population, but its a large geographic area. And so we cover Lutsen, Tofte, and Schroder Townships. We cover the city of Grand Marais, we cover Cook County, we cover the Cook County Garand Marais Development Authority, the Grand Marais park board, the school board, everything. And we have two full time writers and two part time wirers and one ad sales guy and one layout person. Collins: We talk a lot about how journalism is beneficial to democracy. That I understand. And the features part it seems to me that feeds into the fact that these local people are supportive, its not just Silence: And thats something we really love to do is take someone who doesnt like to be in the paper necessarily. Those are some of the best stories, theyre like, no Im not doing anything special. And those are history too, because we have a really good relationship with our local radio station. Theres a radio station in Grand Marais. Tiny little town and have a radio station. And its a public radio; they started with a corner in a basement or whatever. And theyre very good at getting the immediate news out. And we have a really good relationship because I really look, and we do at the paper really look, as were the historical record. So even those little every day things, like which Girl Scout sold the most cookies, or who was the prom queen, or Wilmas 100 years old in her apartment. Thats the historical stuff that is neat to look back on 100 years from now. Thats the things that people will read in the paper and chuckle. And actually though, the news that we cover, cause weve noticed that we do a Down Memory Lane feature in the paper where we go back 20 years, 50 years, 100 years and its really funny some of the issues are the same. Its still the county and the city disagree on such and such road or the sewer or something. Some things never change either. Collins: Really help you in your Silence: Communication I guess. And Im just nosy. Thats I think maybe the number one criteria for a reporter is nosiness and energy. You have to be energetic to try to follow up. And I laugh because Im one of the most unorganized people in the world. But you have to be organized in some, I have my own organization system. Collins: Whats your relationship like with sources? For instance, you cover the county, sometimes the county does something messed up. How do they feel about it?

Silence: That is tough. And I think its harder in that respect to be in a small town. If youre in Minneapolis and you write a story about a commissioner or Im not even sure what they have down here, if they have a city council, I think they do. But if you write about them, the odds are youre not going to run into them at the grocery store or church or something. In a small town youre going to see the people everywhere you go. And it can be really tough. So you do, I think people maybe the government officials in a situation like Cook County, I think they get a fairer shake because cause everyone says something stupid occasionally. We could choose to take that one stupid comment in a meeting and make that the headline and we tend not to because we have to work with these people. So I think they get a fairer deal and we try to show the outcome of a meeting rather than the, well sometimes theres a, for instance Schroder, their meetings are sometimes difficult. And I said that to one of my coworkers when I was at the Herald, and I said its hard to tell the issues from the brawl, and she said sometimes the brawl is the story. But we try not to do that though. Sometimes it is, but we try to show tat people are getting along and working. Unfortunately sometimes its not that way and you have to show, therell be thefts, or therell be things that arent being done right and you have to report on those and its hard. Collins: How do you report on different demographics? Northeast Minnesota. Im sure you have environmental. Silence: ooh yes, that is tough. And actually thats where its a little bit, I would say, I think our paper is very, very fair and we end over backwards to be fair, but I think that its a huge community concern and that is talked about in governmental meetings. Our county commissioners frequently talk about loss of local control. We really feel like, the forest service and fish and wildlife, are federal agencies that are coming and saying you can do thins, you cant do this. So that is an issue that we cover quiet frequently, and it is a little bit tough because the local, really, the sentiment of the longtime local community is kind of against the government pushing the local people out of theirI think we bend over backwards in that aspect, though to show the other side. Because if you kind of know your bias, you dont want to show your bias so I think we do end up being fair and I think sometimes we end up being more on the other side of what we may personally feel because we feel like, ok, we cant show our bias. That is tough. Collins: Its interesting. And also youve got the tension of the county and really really rural areas and Grand Marais. Silence: Yes. We have the wilderness, we have the Canadian border. Theres always, theres a lot of issues up there. I lived for a while in Monterrey, California and I remember when I lived out there, my husband was in the military. So we lived out there and we were in military housing so we had a nice, safe place to live and didnt have to pay a fortune. And theres all these mansions, and Im like

well, how do these people who work at Kmart, where do they live and how do they survive. Thats how Cook County is kind of becoming, because weve got all these cabins that are eight story mansions on Lake Superior. Were really becoming a retirement second home community, and its tough. Its really tough for young families to stay in our community. Because the cost to live there is high, the jobs are primarily hospitality jobs so thats another issue Collins: As you change demographics, you all kind of adjust. Silence: Theres growing pains. Thats something that we cover continually. Were trying to figure out how to keep our hospital going. We need our hospital and our care center going because of the aging demographics. We have a lot of aging people in our community. But its hard for the community to fund that. Collins: Are there ay stories that stand out to you that were really good or important? Silence: Every story is important to the community really. Whatever were working on that week I think is kind of whats important, so it would be hard to pick one story in particular. Collins: Any thoughts or experiences you want to share? Silence: Nope, I guess if anyone who is listening to this who is thinking of going into journalism, if they like to write, just do it. Just do it. Just find a job writing somewhere. Go to college, get a journalism degree. That might a good start. Or communications or whatever. But if you like to write, find a way to write, because youll be happy. Youre not going to be rich. Youre going to be tired because youre constantly, especially if youre going to work at a small town newspaper because youre running constantly, but youll enjoy it. Collins: What are your hours like? Rhonda: Oh my gosh, were a weekly paper, thank goodness. I dont know how dailies function. They just have a much larger staff. I work Monday, Tuesday are kind of normal days, although Ill probably work till 10, 11, 12 oclock on Tuesday. Tuesday is our deadline day, Wednesday is our put the paper together day and finish everything up and sometimes Ill work till 2 or 3 in the morning on Wednesday night, come right back in Thursday morning cause we have to get the paper sent to the printer by noon, one o clock. The poor printer, hes always waiting on us. Wednesday and Thursday are totally insane. My family knows dont even bother me on Wednesdays and Thursdays. We get the paper done, we get it sent, we kind of get ready for next week. And sometimes I can take a Friday off; I try to because of the craziness of the week. But then a lot of times you gotta do interviews on Friday, or theres meetings or theres an event going on. Ad then weekends, we try to divide it around. But generally you cover an

event on the weekend. Those are usually fun things. And then youre kind of on call. Like this weekend there was a fire in Lutsen I had to go take pictures of a fire. And then there was a semi that rolled over on the highway so I had to go take pictures of that. So twice in the weekend I had to jump in my long johns and go take pictures. So its crazy. I work, my paychecks are 90 to 100 hours, I would say. Collins: When you worked at the Star, was it the same? Silence: It was probably less cause there were two papers. So I think it was less. Now one paper gets everything. Collins: I like the idea of having to put on these clothes and hop out. Silence: Cook County is pretty casual anyway, but my excuse for wearing jeans in the office is you never know when you have to cover a fire. I have to wear jeans. Which we get a fire maybe twice a year. But it always seems to come at, like well have three fires in a row or something like that, and its almost always when its below zero. Its almost a given. If its minus ten theres going to be a fire somewhere, well actually you know what it is, is wood stores and furnaces. Chimney fires get out of hand. Collins: So its not karma. Silence: No, right right Collins: Thank you so much for talking to me. Silence: Yes, yes it was fun to talk to you.