This is my last week as editor of the Port Townsend & Jefferson County Leader, so I want to make sure you know how to connect with your newspaper during the interim while the Mullens are selecting a new editor.
Letters to the editor for the Opinion page are an important way readers make the paper their own. Keep them coming! You can either submit them through ptleader.com (see illustration) or email them to editor@ptleader.com. Remember to include a phone number for confirmation.
If you have a news tip or story suggestion, you’ll find our reporters’ email addresses right under their bylines in each week’s paper. Send your information to your favorite reporter or call 360-385-2900 and ask for a reporter, or use email: editor@ptleader.com. I can’t guarantee every idea turns into a story, but the staff will let you know if the story is doable or not.
I want to take this opportunity to remind readers how hard this newsroom works for you.
Our longest-serving staffer, Arts Editor Kirk Boxleitner, has single-handedly revived both the weekly Community Calendar and the Art Walk pages and writes about film and pop culture with expertise. He has developed a reputation for listening carefully to artists and sharing their ideas and work with our readers. Reach him at kboxleitner@ptleader.com or 360-385-2900 x.119.
Lily Haight, who covers county government, the Port of Port Townsend, the courts, environmental news and a number of other beats, also designs many of the news pages and shoots most of our front page photos. Reach her at lhaight@ptleader.com or 360-385-2900 x.123.
Carmen Jaramillo, who grew up here, covers city hall, local schools and several other beats. She designs the Opinion and sports pages and has recently begun designing the front page. Reach her at cjaramillo@ptleader.com or 360-385-2900 x.110.
They produce a remarkable amount of news each week while also writing for special topic sections like Working Waterfront, Rhody Festival, the seasonal activities guides and dozens of other feature packages.
Ordinarily you’ll call the editor if you have comments or complaints. Until the new editor arrives, you can always call the front office: 360-385-2900 and the helpful staff there will connect you to the appropriate person, whether it’s the publisher, the general manager or someone else.
We have already begun conversations with candidates and will continue to advertise the opening, but if you know an experienced editor who would like to lead the newsroom of this year’s “General Excellence” award winner from the Washington Newspaper Publishers’ Association, urge them to send their materials to jlester@ptleader.com.
Later this month, I’ll join the staff of the Seattle Times, working on a free press initiative led by that paper to support local news organizations, whose journalism is the oxygen of democracy.
