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Tom
Eggensperger and daughter, Kelsie.
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| For
Tom Eggensperger, the co-editor/owner of
the Sanders County Ledger in Thompson Falls with
his wife Bina (Bowman), '77 BuFi, the newspaper
connection might have been seen as eventual. The
paper was originally owned by his father, "Doc"
Eggensperger, and Tom started working at the newspaper
when he was six-years-old, putting wooden spacers
away. |
| "But
I knew by high school that this wasn't for me. Our
family never had a vacation in 16 years," he said.
"I didn't want to be that tied down." |
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| He went
off to MSU to study engineering and eventually earned his degree
in zoology and a graduate degree in recreation area management.
He spent some time as a planner and wrote a newspaper column
on the side. But, he soon realized that he needed to be his
own boss. |
| He approached
his father about purchasing the Ledger and his father told him
that once he had the down payment for the newspaper and approval
from his older brothers, he could buy it. Tom and Bina bought
the paper in June 1983. They do a little bit of everything at
the paper with their staff of 10, including running an advertising
specialty business, UPS shipping, office supplies, even passport
pictures. |
| "We're
a part of small town life," he said. "My dad ingrained in me
that you need to be part of the community." |
| Eggensperger
takes that wisdom to heart. He has served 15 years on the city
council, and he's currently an EMT with the local volunteer
ambulance service. |
| Even though
he sits on the city council, he also writes the city council
news for the newspaper. "I get criticized for conflict of interest,
but I enjoy government," he said. "But, our responsibility is
still to be as honest and as fair as we can be." |
| He also
does the opinion writing for the newspaper. "You have a responsibility
that if you criticize you need a solution, a suggestion to do
it better." |
| One thing
Eggensperger said he didn't repeat from his father's legacy
was not taking time away from the business. "My wife insisted
we go on vacations and do the things that I might have otherwise
missed." |
| As proud
Bobcats, the MSU connection for the Eggenspergers runs wide
and deep, starting with his grandfather, P.C. Gaines,
'27 EX, '66 HonDoc, the namesake of the MSU chemistry building,
and continuing with his mother Gladys (Gaines), '44 Sci,
and her brothers Bob, '55 Chem, '60 PhD, and Jack,
'49 Chem, '56 PhD, Gaines, who earned the first doctorates from
MSC. Bina's sisters, Cherie (Bowman) Lyons, '78 BuFi,
Bonnie (Bowman) McGowan, '71 ElEd, '93 Nurs, Maureen
Bowman, '81 SpCom, are MSU grads. Tom and Bina's daughter,
Kelsie, is soon to graduate from MSU and is working as one of
MSU's legislative lobbyists this session. Their son, Scott,
will enroll next fall. |
| Kristin
Neill, the managing editor of the Lewistown
News-Argus, and a native of Polson, was originally
headed for a career as a teacher. But after she
moved with her then-husband to central Montana in
1998, she got a job with the Argus as a reporter
and in October of 2000 she became the managing editor. |
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.
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| "Never
in my wildest imagination did I think that I'd become
a newspaper editor," she said. |
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| "In high
school my teacher encouraged me to go into journalism, but I
had always had the image that being a reporter would be intimidating.
Now, I see that you're really just dealing with people." |
| Neill has
a staff of five full-time reporters and sees the paper as a
community advocate. But at the same time she tries to find a
balance in the news coverage. In looking for reporters she looks
for individuals with ties to the community who will be around
for a while, rather then specifically those with a journalism
degree. |
| "Our goal
is to cover the community and localize the news." Neill at times
writes editorials for the paper. "I write (opinion pieces) when
something strikes a chord with me. I want to have the knowledge
about the issue firsthand." |
| As the
editor, Neill has capitalized on her interest in design to make
improvements to the design of the paper. |
| Neill tries
not to put in too much overtime at the paper. As a single mom
she wants to spend as much time with her boys, Karstin and Kody,
as she can. She tries to leave her job at the office, and the
boys don't know a lot about what she does other than "mommy's
the boss" of her department at the newspaper. |
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Andy
Malby
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| Andy
Malby, the editor/publisher of the High Country
Independent Press in Belgrade, is back where he
belongs. A Three Forks native, he always hoped that
his career would bring him back to the Gallatin
Valley. |
| As
a student at MSU, Malby was looking for an extracurricular
activity and ended up on the Exponent staff and
eventually the editor. |
| "When
I came in the Exponent was losing money. I made
it self-supporting by just applying some common
sense business practices." |
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| He also
started the Excrement, the Exponent's annual April Fool's and
end of semester edition. |
| "Newspapering
was a natural fit," he said. "I always wanted to be a writer.
I learned a lot there, even though there was no one to teach
me. I think in the end I gave too much to it. I should have
spent more time on my education." |
| He left
MSU before earning his degree to be with his wife, Mariah
(Eastman), '90 PSci'92 M, who was attending law school at
Gonzaga University. |
| After spending
time as editor at community weekly newspapers in the Spokane
area and running his wife's law office in Lewistown, Malby had
the opportunity to return to the area in 2000 as a reporter
for the Independent Press. "The paper at that time was owned
by Devon Hubbard Sorlie, who had been my faculty advisor at
the Exponent." Malby was named editor/publisher of the paper
in March of 2001. |
| "Going
from reporter to editor happens fast in the weekly world," he
said. "It's like a battlefield promotion." |
| With a
staff of six, Malby is still a jack-of-all-trades at the newspaper.
He sells advertising, does layout and still covers county government.
"The challenge is that there's something new every minute."
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| Former
owner Sorlie still writes for the paper. "The Independent Press
is highly regarded and she did a good job in building it into
what it is today," he said. "I want to keep the paper going
in that direction. I'm trying to narrow our focus to being a
small weekly rather than trying to go head-to-head with the
area daily." |
| Malby believes
that there's more news value in everyday life and that everybody
has a story to tell. |
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