News-ed Grads Head West to Colorado Paper
By Liz Manninger
The Daily Nebraskan West Bureau. That's how Dane Stickney described his work environment. Of the five reporters on the Grand Junction, Colo., Free Press staff, four are recent graduates of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Dane and Veronica Stickney graduated from UNL's College of Journalism and Mass Communications in May 2002. They went to work for a small paper in Iowa but soon headed west.
They saw an ad for a new paper that was getting started in western Colorado. Intrigued by the opportunity of being a part of something new, they set out to investigate.
In the beginning Dane and Veronica were the only two reporters. Veronica said there were a lot of long days, working from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m.
"It was this new thing that we were a part of, and it was great," she said. But after a few months, she said she and Dane were ready for some assistance.
When the publisher decided it was time to expand the paper and the staff, Dane and Veronica recommended a college friend, Josh Nichols. Nichols, an August 2001 graduate, was working nearby in Craig, Colo. Soon he was alongside the Stickneys at the Free Press.
When it was time to expand again, the Nebraskans suggested a former classmate. This time Cara Pesek, a May 2003 graduate, joined the staff.
"There's been jokes that soon the newsroom will all be UNL grads," Veronica Stickney said.
Dane Stickney said he, his wife, Nichols and Pesek had all known each other at UNL. They had taken classes together and worked at the Daily Nebraskan.
"Working at a newspaper 600 miles away with people who sat next to me in my intro to journalism classes at UNL just a few years ago is a trip," Nichols said.
Now as co-workers, the Nebraskans said they are all still close.
"We drink together," Dane Stickney said, "and go hiking together and hang out together. It's pretty cool."
The UNL graduates said working with friends is not the only job benefit they enjoy at the Free Press. They also appreciate their unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor of a new publication and have a lot of influence on how it takes shape.
Veronica Stickney said she thinks it's great that she can suggest a friend for an opening and he gets the job.
"I like to feel important," she said, "and I do here."
Pesek said she likes the situation, too. "I did not expect that two weeks after starting that I would be writing 50-inch stories that's the feature of the front page," she said. "These were skills that I knew were good to have, but I didn't think that would happen right away."
All the reporters are busy and involved, Dane Stickney said. "We all have a lot to do and a lot of say, and just out of college that's kind of rare."
He said he also likes helping to establish a new voice in the community.
The Free Press opened for business in May 2003. The Stickneys have been there from the beginning.
"We're really like the building blocks of this paper," Dane Stickney said. "Here the possibilities are endless. No one's done anything yet, so you can just do whatever you want."
The Free Press is competing against the Daily Sentinel, the only other paper in the area. Nichols said the Daily Sentinel is "the voice of western Colorado," covering news throughout the western part of the state. But the Free Press focuses on the 100,000 people in Grand Junction and surrounding communities.
"The brains behind this newspaper saw a market that could support such a publication," Nichols said. "That's our niche: as many local names and pictures as we can get. The more local faces the better.
"(Employees at the Daily Sentinel) don't really like us," Dane Stickney said, "but it inspires us to do a better job."
He said the paper is doing well and is growing.
The presses produce 20,000 papers every day, Nichols said. They are delivered to 3,000 homes and 1,300 businesses. The rest are distributed via 400 news racks; 200 more have been ordered.
Nichols said he feels pretty good about his job stability, even though at this point in his life he isn't looking much more than a year down the road.
"If Dane and I continue to pursue our mission of climbing every 14,000-foot mountain in Colorado, we may decide to quit our jobs and live in tents in the hills soon anyway," he said.
"It's too soon to say if this is going to be a great paper," Dane Stickney said, "but I'm really encouraged."
