The Conroe Courier-Jim Fredricks, Editor and Publisher

Jim Fredricks is the editor and publisher of the Conroe Courier, a local paper of the city of Conroe, TX. His main theme for choosing the path he did in journalism is serving the community. A sentiment that seems all but lost in reporters of the "media organizations that have grown too big to hear and respond to their audiences."
When asked about why he went into journalism his first response was, "Sigourney [Weaver] was hot!" in the journalistic movie, "The Year of Living Dangerously" starring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson. However, thinking more about the question it came down to a real interest in current events, a desire to make a difference and a passion for writing.
Starting off as a freelance journalist/writer a local paper grabbed him as soon as they had a reporting slot open up. Fredricks feels good journalism "is about the community and our readers-their needs, wants and aspirations." Focusing more on the community and serving them by "celebrating the good" stories and shedding "light on the bad" he feels that smaller papers do very well at practicing this good journalism despite limited resources. Practicing "community advocacy" allows Fredricks and his staff to really be there for the community in such things as uniting the community to restore a long forgotten veteran's memorial and helping correct wasteful spending by elected officials. When asked about citizen journalism Fredricks had this to say,
"Citizen journalism is a worthy experiment but has its limits. It cannot and must not replace the role of newspapers and other media in providing balance and context and applying journalistic values to the work we produce."
Fredricks feels he makes a difference in many different ways whether it be by making someone smile, touching someone's heart or writing stories that have corrected and pinpointed real community problems. He also feels that the very best journalism occurs in smaller papers, "who by their very size must be responsive to the voices in their community." Larger papers have seemingly lost touch with their audiences due to their sheer size and can no longer truly connect with the community they represent. At least, not as well as the small papers can connect.
His view on on what's happening with citizen journalism in relation to small papers is interesting indeed. He had this to say on the subject,
"I believe we -- and other community newspapers -- are in the "sweet spot" in journalism, as audiences fracture into smaller, more local units."
It would seem citizen journalism has no real impact on the smaller newspaper industry. Perhaps because of the lack of citizen journalism on such a small community scale and the loyalty of the community to their newspaper, the small papers will be able to pass through the shady areas that so many larger papers are fearing.
Finally Jim Fredricks gave some great advice to the up and coming journalists. Not being able to say it better myself, he says,
"Don't get into journalism thinking you are the one who is going to enlighten the masses. Go into it to serve, respect your readers, understand what's going on in their lives, and make sure you show that respect and understanding in your stories."