Farmers Weekly Review

By Nick Reiher

So, I was sitting in front of the laptop, trying to figure out what words of wisdom I could pass on through my column.

Valentine’s Day? Nah.

Starting up a term as church council president? We’ll wait to see if there will be any impeachment. (JK)

Then a longtime friend – who often reminded me she’s younger and started at the Herald News a month before me (meaning she had first shot at the vacation schedule – texted to wish me a happy anniversary of my job at the helm of Farmers Weekly Review on February 4.

That crept up on me. With January being nine months long, and all. February used to be like that. I’d often say that’s why they cut February short and added a day of sweets midway through.

Thirteen years ago, I started as editor in chief of Farmers Weekly Review. I was the first non-family member on the payroll when Publisher Michael Cleary hired me.

Truth is, I wasn’t looking for another journalism job when another longtime friend passed along the info Michael was looking for an editor. His Dad, Patrick, with whom I worked alongside for many years a while back, had passed away. And he needed a journalist.

Had it been any other publication, I may have passed on it. The previous June, I had been let go by the Sun-Times Corp., which ended a string of 29 consecutive years as a full-time journalist.

During the previous year, especially the final six months, I had seen many colleagues with much better credentials than me axed the same way. The Sun-Times, with a $600 million tax debt thanks to Lord Conrad Black and his associates, simply could not afford to staff newsrooms adequately anymore.

I thought I had laid it all out by then; left it all on the field, as they say. Ready for a new challenge.

I didn’t realize the challenge would be navigating a hiring system done online where “keywords” mattered more than experience. Where it was impossible to look someone in the eye unless you were lucky enough to pick the right keywords in your application.

So, when I heard about the job opening at Farmers Weekly Review, and the opportunity to meet Michael in person at the Farm Bureau office on Manhattan Road, I was interested.

I asked my friend Mark Schneidewind, Farm Bureau Manager, what Michael was like. Said he was a good guy and encouraged me to apply. Ironically, this past February 3 was Mark’s last day as manager, retiring after making quite a, well, mark, on local and regional agriculture.

It’s been quite a ride these past 13 years. Learning more about local Ag has been great, and put me in good stead with my late Father-in-Law, Don Olson, who wanted to know all about what was going on in our farm country.

While I haven’t always agreed with farmers on various issues, I learned there are no harder workers out there, and that goes for their spouses and offspring as well.

It’s a hard, unpredictable life, which unfortunately means too many older farmers are seeing offspring not interested in pursuing that lifestyle, often leading to a growth of subdivisions, solar farms and warehouses.

While the fight against NorthPoint has been a bane of my existence, it also has allowed me to work with some of the most passionate, dedicated residents in and around the path of that development. The Force is strong with them.

Leading a countywide newspaper, it only made sense I should cover the Will County Board, which I had done with the Herald News off and on since 1987.

Initially, it was like old home week, renewing old friendships and acquaintances. Unfortunately, county government, like many local taxing bodies, has follow the path of national politics, devolving into “us versus them,” with party becoming more important than public service.

It’s sad, but at all levels, we have the government we asked for, that we deserve.

Still, these governments must be covered; so, I do, mostly remotely for time constraints, a service left over from the social distancing of the pandemic.

Ah, the pandemic. When millions died globally from a virus that many believe was overblown, if not completely made up. Some of those people even would dispute the term “globally,” since, you know, the Earth really is flat.

These are the kind of issues that I, in a small way, and other journalists have had to deal with in the face of social media misinformation, fostered by politicians who gleefully see the opportunity to manipulate people to their advantage. And there are fewer of us to call them on it.

I read an article that said Illinois has lost more local newspapers than any other state in the past 20 years. You almost lost us during the pandemic. Ad revenues, understandably, were way down.

Thankfully, that’s when you know who your supporters really are, and they helped us carry on and even get a bit stronger in the past couple years. You are heroes to credible journalism.

We’ll see what direction credible news organizations take in the future, always following what the majority deems “credible.”

What I’m trying to say with all of this is, thank you for sticking with us during the most turbulent time for local media. We don’t always have to agree, and you can call or write to tell me that anytime.

Here’s to another year. Let’s make it a good one.

Nick Reiher is editor of Farmers Weekly Review.