I got this picture from Google Maps. Notice the spelling of Skagway on the building – “Skaguay.” Anyway, that’s the Skagway News building.

The Columbia Journalism Review (CJR) has a story about an Alaskan newspaper, the Skagway News, where the editor is also the only writer, editor lays out the paper, brings it to the printer, picks it up and distributes it.

From the article: “As the editor/reporter,” the listing for her job explained, “you will be responsible for writing every story, laying out every issue, sending it to the printers and picking it up in Whitehorse, [Yukon Territory], two hours away. You and our business manager are also responsible for distributing the papers throughout town and mailing them to the Lower 48.”

I love this, as I have been doing this for over 11 years with the Coconut Grove Grapevine the daily news in our little sailing village in Miami, FL. Well, every part except the having it printed, because the Grapevine is an online publication and I doubt it would ever exist if it wasn’t, although in the early 1980s, the Coconut Grove Grapevine was a monthly or twice monthly printed newspaper which I worked on as a kid, that’s where I got the name for the online Grapevine.

I worked at a place where I typeset and layed out newspapers and the Coconut Grove Grapevine was a client.

Interestingly enough, many of the people I know in Coconut Grove today, worked for the original Grapveine, mostly as writers just starting out.

But anyway, I’ve always been proud of the current Coconut Grove Grapevine as being a one-man operation – I find the news or edit the press releases that come in, I take the photos, interview people, design the layout and stories, sell the ads, etc. etc. Very much like the Skagway News. And I do mine all part time although it seems full time.

Anyway, here’s the Skagway article in the CJR.