Fall has arrived in La Conner. The leaves are turning, pumpkins are plentiful, and I’m grateful to be back after my short trip to Washington, D.C. My trip was memorable for many reasons, not least because of the warm congratulations I received after joining the national board of the Journalism and Women Symposium. It is a phenomenal group of journalists, and I am deeply honored to serve.
D.C., however, was not the D.C. I remember. The bustling crowds of business people and tourists were gone. Cab drivers told me they are struggling to make ends meet. The upside, if you could call it that, was being able to walk into almost any restaurant without a reservation — even with a large group. But the most striking feature of the city was the ever-present National Guard. Their presence was both seen and felt every day, a stark reminder that things are different now.
I went to D.C. with a question I’ve also posed in these pages: How does one lead a local newspaper when American democracy is under siege? The answers I received were both grounding and hopeful.
Peggy Simpson, the storied Associated Press reporter who covered President John F. Kennedy’s assassination and later joined other women in a landmark gender discrimination lawsuit against the AP, told me that every era calls for its own solutions. Right-sizing the approach to each challenge, she said, is the best way forward. The lawsuit was the right step for women at the AP then; today, our steps may look different — but the courage to take them is the same.
Another mentor of mine, a former New York Times editor, gave me advice I now carry back to La Conner: Just keep doing the news for your local community. Democracy, she reminded me, is not only defended in Washington, D.C., but practiced in towns like La Conner every day. Each time our neighbors turn out for a town council or planning commission meeting, and each time we report on those events for the public record, we are strengthening democracy.
We may not always feel like we’re tipping the scales. But we are building trust, one story at a time. That is the work. And in La Conner, we can be proud to keep doing it.
Kari Mar is the editor and publisher of La Conner Community News.
