Thanks for all the stories, Albany
Friday will be my last day at the Times Union.
Those are strange words to type, but rule No. 1 of reporting is “don’t bury the lede.” Or maybe it’s “always have a pen.” Whatever. I digress.
Leaving the job I’ve loved for the last 12-plus years was among the hardest decisions I’ve ever made. But I’ve been offered a great opportunity at the University at Albany that was too interesting to pass up. It’s a job that will keep me in the city and in contact with many of you.
But that’s all for later. The point here is simply to say thanks to everyone who indulged me over the years — that is, all of you on the receiving end of my pestering phone calls, rambling voice messages, follow-up emails, follow-up emails to follow-up emails and late-night texts. We probably didn’t always agree, but I hope you know that when we didn’t it was in good faith.
Thanks also to those interested enough in their own communities to read the paper and write me back — by email, on Twitter, sometimes by hand and, more often than you might think, from their prison cells. (Seriously, ask any reporter: Inmates can be prolific with the pen.)
Reader feedback — even angry reader feedback — was always reassuring in the sense that it at least confirmed that the details we sweat every day still matter to other people, too. The difference between Second Street and Second Avenue is subtle but not minor, and I’m glad folks still cared that we got it right and let us know when we didn’t.
I also owe a special thanks to all the court and municipal clerks, board of elections staffers and countless others whose offices I often showed up in perilously near closing time and without whose forbearance a reporter’s job would be damn near impossible.
And of course all the regular people, too, who had no obligation whatsoever to talk to me but often did anyway, even when it was difficult to do so.
Not least of all, thanks to the Times Union for giving me a chance to do a job I truly loved in the capital of my home state. The TU is still full of great people doing really great work in creative new ways. I hope you’ll continue to support the paper and the people who make it worth reading every day.
On the (rare) occasion that someone asks me what I think about the future for local news, I tell them that I think we get the best news we’re willing to pay for. I truly believe that. You can’t demand quality local news and expect it to be free. You wouldn’t buy ground beef or a bike helmet that way.
That’s all. You can still find me on Twitter (soon with slightly more emphasis on the Yankees’ anemic offense), and I’m sure I’ll still see many of you around town.
Say hello if you spot me first, and please don’t be shy with the latest gossip. Off the record, naturally.
Thanks again for all the stories (that includes you, Christmas fox),
Jordan
