I write this blog primarily to scream into nothingness about the newspaper industry with the assumption that only a few folks I am friends with might take a look and care. It’s therapeutic and something that has kept me from pulling my hair out.

Throughout the years, I have become friends with lots of people in the industry, many of whom surely think I am full of hot air and are probably right.

Occasionally, you find some like-minded folks, get to talking, and become friends at stuff, whether it’s at Kansas Press Association, International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, Midwest Free Community Papers, or any number of other things I have attended throughout my journey to go from dumb to slightly less dumb. That’s the point of attending those things, if I remember right.

During that journey, I became friends with the News Guru, Kevin Slimp, and we trade messages from time to time and learned that we are mostly of like mind when it comes to this industry.

So, Warren Buffett sells his papers. I get an e-mail about it from a very respected business person whom I think a lot of, and I decide to scream into nothingness with my blog like I always do.

I am not worried that the greatest investor of our time is tapping out and here is why, print isn’t dead, just do local well… blah…blah..blah…

Slimp, saw my blog and reposted it. Slimp has a lot more friends and knows a lot more folks in the industry than I. All of a sudden, I get a call from Mike Blender, who recently purchased Editor & Publisher, asking if we could chat.

What the hell have I gotten myself into?

I agreed to a chat, despite hating to be on camera. I would rather speak to an auditorium of hundreds of people than see myself on camera while speaking. On top of that, I agreed to speak with Blinder the day after the Super Bowl, where my beloved Kansas City Chiefs were hopefully going to win the game and I was going to drink a lot of beers to celebrate or to cope.

I have been a die-hard for as long as I can remember, and doing an interview the day after the biggest game in my life didn’t seem like a great idea, but I already agreed to do it. Hangover be damned!

We spoke for about 45-minutes, and I am relieved I didn’t come off as a complete jackass. Not a complete one, at least.

So, if you ever wonder how a small market zilch who knows very little and has managed to find a great team gets featured in E&P… my answer: Be friends with Kevin Slimp and scream into nothingness.