AHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Yay?

On the overwhelm of a good thing.

Hi everyone!

Welcome to new subscribers. Let’s get to it.

I’m Excited, I Swear.

A few months ago, I mentioned that I became the news editor for a local community paper, The Biltmore Beacon.

Luckily — and counterintuitively, perhaps — the job didn’t entail editing reporters under me. The paper didn’t have the budget for that. Instead, I was more like a curator: I sorted through the hundreds of emails that came in each week and chose the information that would best inform and appeal to readers living in South Asheville.

We had three sections: news, arts and entertainment, and outdoors. And we published two types of articles: those from news partners (i.e., actual articles reported and edited by another publication and sent to us for greater distribution) and press releases that we gussied up a bit (i.e., city and county updates, arts and outdoor events that readers may want to attend).

Looking back, I didn’t do that great a job — at least with the gussying up the press releases. I ended up sounding too blunt and newsy. But that’s how you learn! I was a decent curator from the outset, though.

In the beginning, this job seemed like a little add on: a way to make extra, okay-ish money and something steady for those lean times when no new freelance assignments are pouring in.

But change was right around the corner.

You see, The Biltmore Beacon had been in talks for over a year to buy another local paper, The Tribune Papers. The Tribune has a greater reach — that is, more delivery racks across two counties. It is also a subscription paper, and that allows it to publish legals. These are notices that lawyers and public officials have to share with the public in print in a local newspaper. Things like an estate that has gone to probate, foreclosures, etc. And they pay to do that. It’s a more stable revenue source than advertising, which can swing wildly depending on the economy.

The deal went through at the beginning of July.

We launch this week as a brand new paper, The Beacon Tribune. (Exciting name, I know.)

And this merger has taken up my life over the last few weeks.

SO MUCH about this situation is amazing:

• I’m now Managing Editor! Which feels slightly hilarious, but accurately reflects the roles I have.

• We now have writers, so I edited my first stories last week.

• I brought on a writer who I suspect will be one of our most successful, and I’m pretty chuffed by that. And my boss, whom I love, found some other great folks.

• We were selected along with four other North Carolina newsrooms to participate in a free, nine-month accelerator program designed to help us identify our audience, engage with them, and become a sustainable newsroom.

• Our publisher is ambitious, but also realistic. He dreams big but doesn’t expect it to happen tomorrow.

• I have learned SO MUCH about the newsroom side of a paper, even though I’m still remote.

But I’m exhausted. I don’t know how I’m going to balance these new responsibilities with the….six? stories due by the beginning of September.

I’m still WAY behind — as in, not even half — of my money goals for the year.

When a local full-time position at a nonprofit media organization came up recently, I had a huge moment of FOMO. Did I agree to take on this little community newspaper when I could be working for far more money (and benefits!) at a larger organization? Did I just miss out on an unforgettable opportunity?

[REGRETFUL PANIC ENSUES]

That feeling hasn’t completely gone away, but here are some genuine truths:

• I don’t want a full-time position. I still want to write for other publications, and I don’t have the bandwidth to do both.

• Who’s to say I would get this job? I know at least three people who have journalism-ed for longer than I have and who have much deeper local ties. They would be equally, if not more, qualified.

• It’s so rare to be at the beginning of the launch of a new news entity. Some people have started their own, but I’m not in a position to do that. This is genuinely an incredible opportunity. While the same is somewhat true of the full-time job, it’s not an actual newspaper.

• I also will have a lot more control in my managing editor role. That makes me sound like a megalomaniac — I HAVE THE POWER!!! — but I often talk all these big convictions without an opportunity to put them into practice. The buck doesn’t stop with me (yet), and I’m not ready for it to. But I am one of the core people shaping the vision and mission of this paper. While these goals should always be fluid and evolve, there’s something truly exciting about putting my stamp on something new.

Courage?

In one of the many professional development whatevers I’m always doing, I recently came across one that asked me to articulate my BIG WHY. Aside from obvious answers like “I need money to live,” what is the purpose that drives me to do what I do? Why write? And why write journalism?

To my surprise, the answer was courage. The work I do requires me to put my writing out there. It requires me to put my name to something and stand behind it. Even when it’s not as good as I’d like it to be. Even when it might invite backlash or negative comments. Even when I make mistakes, which I inevitably do because I’m human.

It requires me to build courage. And a courageous person is someone I want to be. (I’m not yet. Quite cowardly, in fact. It’s a gentle criticism, since I know why I’m a coward and forgive myself for it. But cowardice has driven too many of my decisions in life, and I’m ready to build a bit of a spine.)

Some of my “oh, my gosh, what am I doing?!?” panic with the Beacon Tribune job, I think, stems from stepping into the spotlight. I’m no longer just a story writer who hides behind a byline.

As managing editor of a community newspaper, I’m making myself more available, more public: open to feedback, open to standing up for decisions we make even if they’re not popular, open to facing all of the disdain and even hate that’s thrown at journalists nowadays. Open to getting things wrong and getting called out for it. Open to apologizing if necessary.

And the reality is that I want that to happen. If it doesn’t, it’s a sign that no one’s reading and no one cares. That’s the worst possible outcome.

Y’all, I won’t sugarcoat it: this month will test me. SO MUCH TO DO. NOT ENOUGH TIME. It will inevitably just need to “get done,” and I can only thank my editors in advance for the work they’ll need to do to improve whatever (comparatively) shitty drafts I get to them. As an editor, I now understand what it takes and assume a perpetual child’s pose in grateful awe.

But the work on the BT? SO MUCH FUN. Truly. Exciting. Exhausting, but excited.

The writing work feels more stressful, because I’m trying to please someone else. And the writing work is harder — it’s always harder to work on your own stuff. But that’s okay — because the writing also builds courage. Putting your “this is what I could do, and I know you’re going to make it better” on the page for others to slice and dice takes courage.

Courage — I guess it’s my word for this month.

Natural Disaster Relief and Recovery

Kerr County Flood Relief Fund. I’m still vetting places to donate, but I chose this one because it focuses beyond the immediate relief efforts to recovery. It’s run by The Community Foundation of the Texas Hill Country, and I’ve seen our local Community Foundation provide numerous grants to those in need after Helene. But I’m still looking to more grassroots organizations.

Help Catye Gowan Feed People with Dietary Needs! This chef has been out there on her own since the storm began cooking food designed for people with severe dietary issues like Celiac and dietary preferences like veganism. She’s a force for good, and every dollar helps!

Help the House of Black Cat Magic Save Black Cats! Our second cat, Mini Keeper-Moo, came from Binx’s Home for Black Cats, one of only a handful of black cat-specific rescues in the country. They opened up a gorgeous black cat lounge and magic shop last May, but since Hurricane Helene they’re struggling like every other business. They’ve only received $15,000 micro-grants since the storm to save their business — not a cent more. Please help them help black cats!

BeLoved Asheville. These folks are the best in the world — the ultimate model of mutual aid and greeting the world with love. Check out what they’ve been doing, and donate, here. BeLoved has also sent supplies to Texas, so donating to them will help both WNC and Texas.

The Deep End of Hope in the Wake of Hurricane Helene: 40 Days and Nights of Survival and Transformation. A Ground Zero view of the storm’s devastation — and a community’s resilience — from a trauma chaplain who lived it.

World Central Kitchen. A hot meal means everything in such difficult moments, and World Central Kitchen shows up for every disaster.

This Week’s Dose of K-Pop: aespa (에스파), “Next Level”

SM Entertainment has a history of debuting K-pop groups with elaborate concepts and then dropping them as soon as it fails to capture the public’s imagination.

This happened with aespa, the most popular girl group of 2024. When they debuted, there was this whole complex backstory of how each member had a virtual version called an “ae” and they were engaged in some kind of giant video-game like war against a villain called Black Mamba. This all took place in some virtual world called KWANGA and….well, it fell flat almost immediately, because it was pretty dumb.

But that doesn’t mean the songs were bad. Take “Next Level,” aespa’s second single.

I chose it this week since I’m “leveling up,” as the gamers like to say, with this new role. But I also love the idea that the lyrics have all these references to KWANGA and Black Mamba and Naevis (some virtual chick similar to Synergy from the 80’s cartoon Jem) that have completely vanished from aespa’s world.

In short, when something doesn’t work, you pivot. And as aespa’s successful 2024 shows, people will forgive you for the change if the new stuff is better.

“Next Level” is still a banger. And it’s better not to understand a lot of the lyrics, in my opinion.

Enjoy

Love y’all,

Sara