There is nothing quite as odd than being interviewed when you are used to being the one asking the questions. I just got off a Skype call with John Hatcher, Associate Professor of Journalism at the University of Minnesota Duluth, for a class he is teaching on community journalism.

It was very humbling for me, as someone who worked his way up through the newspaper-ing world and not a college graduate, to be asked to speak to college students about what community journalism is.

I met Hatcher at an annual conference we both attend, The International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors Conference, and he thought Lindsey and my story was interesting enough to share.

We talked about a bevy of subjects, some of which were us waxing philosophically about our roles in a community, what types of ethics we follow when we publish, and difficult situations we have found ourselves in while reporting, but the conversation that I enjoyed the most was about the future of journalism.

I told Hatcher I felt the future of our industry would not be print first or digital first like many in the newspaper industry world argue, but instead, local first — regardless of what it is on.

Local news will?be the future of our industry. The era of a newspaper or media company being the one-stop shop for local/national/world news is over, folks. We have to know our community and treat what is happening in it as the most important thing always.

This is the philosophy we are starting Newton Now under — local first.

While I felt awkward being interviewed, I feel invigorated this Thursday morning by the conversation we had.