Fred Berner, the owner and publisher of the Antigo Daily Journal picked up our call before the second ring. We’d met him in the morning at his office but he was busy “getting out the paper” and delivering papers on two routes, so he asked us to call him at his home number after 4:15. It was 4:20. We had a conversation for over 30 minutes. Here are some of the highlights.
Three Generations
Fred’s grandfather and his brother were shopping for papers in 1900 and bought several weeklies, one of which was in Antigo. In 1905 they converted it to a daily and it has been published continuously since then. Hung on the wall near the entrance of the large, open press room which included Fred’s desk right in the middle, is a photo of the paper’s staff in 1955. Fred is a skinny youth in the back of the photo -- part of the family behind the family business. Today he reports that there is only one other independent daily in Wisconsin. It is owned by the Clifford family in Watertown. All others have gone under, been rolled up by a large parent or slipped from daily to weekly.
I ask: “How do you do it?” He concedes that it is a difficult environment for dailies. But at the Daily Journal, “Everyone is dedicated to the cause. Everyone works, works hard.” He was at work at 4:15am and will be working tonight, he tells us with a hint of pride. His pressman is also similarly dedicated. He is short staffed today and had to run the two northern town paper routes this afternoon. He was impressed with the number of papers sold. “Papers get a bad rap for not running news. Well I still run news. There are still people out there who like to read more independent and comprehensive stories.” Not so “hit and run.”
I ask: “How do you do it?” He concedes that it is a difficult environment for dailies. But at the Daily Journal, “Everyone is dedicated to the cause. Everyone works, works hard.” He was at work at 4:15am and will be working tonight, he tells us with a hint of pride. His pressman is also similarly dedicated. He is short staffed today and had to run the two northern town paper routes this afternoon. He was impressed with the number of papers sold. “Papers get a bad rap for not running news. Well I still run news. There are still people out there who like to read more independent and comprehensive stories.” Not so “hit and run.”
Readers and Their Feedback
Fred: A paper gives the reader a chance to read an article two, three times. Enough time to get madder than hell, get worked up, and come down and see me…. In 1972 we moved to this new building. In a little town you’re going to have issues. Well a man wrapped up a note around a brick and threw it through our plate glass window. I’m not going to say I’m a popular person, I’ll just say that everyone knows me.
We ask about the divisiveness in the US and even in small communities today: “Do you take political positions?”
“No,” he says. “I don’t take political stands. We got in all sorts of trouble years back [the Ford/Nixon days] by backing local candidates. Sometimes those guys don’t all win. And you’ve got to work on a one-on-one basis with a sheriff you didn’t back. He can give you a schnitzel and not cooperate.”
Politics and Divisions
Fred says, “I’ve never seen something as divisive as this. I don’t think the people who support Trump are near as wild as those who hate him. They are far more vocal. That is what I’ve seen. It’s tragic but it was already there, just not with such a flamboyant character.” He reminds us that “Obama health care passed without any Republican participation.”
Dave asks, “Do you see a future for the country?”
Fred responds, “Oh, I think the country will be just fine.” “You know that after the Great Depression we all survived -- not that hot, but they did.”Dave asks, “Do you see a future for the country?”
Dave asks, “What is the path forward?”
Fred: I don’t know. That is the mystery. I don’t know how to break the cycle. Society is so polarized. No spirit of cooperation. Before Walker we had a very liberal Democratic Governor (Doyle). No “calm” democrats or “calm” republicans. And things get too far left or too far right. Things in Wisconsin needed fixing after Doyle got there. Tommy Thompson came back from Washington, I heard him speak a bunch of times, and he said I just got out of there the bureaucratic situation is so horrid. We’re making too big a swings -- that pendulum is just rockin’ and a rollin’. I’m hoping someone with common sense comes rolling along.
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| Fred Berner, Publisher |
Fred: In the last week of the Obama administration we created all these monuments took all that land out west and passed all the new legislation. Now we’re (Trump) knocking them out but that’s causing problems too. The pendulum is going back and forth is just spinning around.
What to do with too much bad news
Fred: What I’m worried about is how much bad luck can you tack into about three weeks? Two or three bad storms and now another. And then this character in Las Vegas. You know this morning I put an article on the front page about butterflies. If all you’re doing is running stories about people caught in tragedies -- or victims of someone you can’t make any sense out of what they do. This is one of the good things about living being right where we are. We’re never going to be multi millionaires -- unless you are doing it somewhere else...and we do have some local businesses which outsource -- but nothing happens here. This is a good place to be. Not perfect, we have people with problems, but we seem to miss bad things: we don’t live on the ocean, we don’t have millions of people.
Fourth Generation
Fred tells us he doesn’t have a fourth generation. But “my mother passed away recently. She was 98. So I have a ways to go.”
After talking about the gathering each morning at the Dixie Lunch we close the conversation. “Thanks for coming in.” he says. “You’ve made me smile.”
After talking about the gathering each morning at the Dixie Lunch we close the conversation. “Thanks for coming in.” he says. “You’ve made me smile.”
-- Peter
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