Good afternoon, San Benito County. Yesterday, April 15, was tax
day and publisher Michael Eastman’s final day with the Free Lance.
Both events were not welcome; however, we did have a little
celebration for Mike at the paper, none for the IRS.
Good afternoon, San Benito County. Yesterday, April 15, was tax day and publisher Michael Eastman’s final day with the Free Lance. Both events were not welcome; however, we did have a little celebration for Mike at the paper, none for the IRS.
The staff, hoping to send a message to Mike to keep in the swing of things, wanted to give him a desk set. Swing of things, why not a golf driver? After all, a bad day on the golf course is better than a good day in the office. As usual, the staff won out.
Whether Michael Eastman drives straight to a new office or better yet, drives (or slices) down some well-earned time on the greens, his six years of service to the Free Lance will always be appreciated by his staff and friends. Hit ’em well, Mike.
As group publisher, I am the guy who has had the easy job at the Free Lance, until now. The Free Lance has sister publications: The Gilroy Dispatch, Morgan Hill Times and South Valley Direct. The combined group is known as South Valley Newspapers and is delivered to more than 57,000 households in the three communities each week.
The combined group news and production resources help bring you a better Free Lance. Our role in San Benito County is to provide you with the news that you want to know or, sometimes news that you may not always like but need to know about your community. We also will let you know our opinion on important matters, and equally important, we want to share opinions of those who differ from our own position.
The Free Lance is a good newspaper. We intend to make it even better by delivering you more local news, more features and more opinions.
San Benito County for 130 years has had a public platform for debate and forum on the opinion page of your Free Lance. The privilege of free speech is a cornerstone of our democratic society. We again witnessed what happens to citizens of a country when the right to publish opinions is denied. And once again, American blood has been spent to provide freedom of speech to people on the other side of the world.
We intend to speak up and we are anxious to publish your right to a different opinion.
This year, the Hollister Free Lance commemorates 130 years of serving the readers of San Benito County. We are offering a worldwide 5-star vacation for all those who were present at the launch of our first publication!
The Free Lance became a daily newspaper in 1910, an impressive accomplishment given the labor intense publishing requirements 93 years ago. These days, technology makes a new set of demands on news publishing.
In just one career, I have participated in the transition from melting lead to set type (hot type) to the “computer room,” which downsized to desktop publishing and now has moved online, publishing in cyberspace.
The pace of daily newspapering has never changed. What is different is the timeline between news events and your driveway has narrowed. If it happens in Hollister or Baghdad by 10:30 a.m., it can be in your Free Lance by lunch with full color photos from halfway around the world, five lunch specials a week.
I have really enjoyed settling down here and particularly take pleasure in wandering the shops and restaurants of downtown Hollister and the communities of San Benito County. This is truly a great place to live and work.
Hope to see you with the Free Lance over a basket of freedom fries.
Bill Barry
South Valley Newspapers Group Publisher
