Farewell to an absolute journalism legend
Bill Tubbs was the type of all-around newspaper guy that is sadly going extinct
The first full-time newspaper job I took after graduating college in the early 1990s resulted in the biggest disparity between what I would be paid and how hard and long I had to work in my entire career.
It also taught me more about writing, editing, photography, the newspaper business and maybe even life than any other job I’ve ever had.
The man who offered me that $15,500-per-year salaried position at which I’d regularly put in 50 to 60 hours a week was Bill Tubbs, longtime publisher of the North Scott Press.
“Legend” almost feels like too paltry a word to describe Bill, who passed away Sept. 20, aged 75.
He took over publication of the then four-year-old weekly newspaper in Eldridge, Iowa in 1971 and with wife Linda at his side spent the next five-plus decades writing the first draft of history for the small towns and rural areas of Scott County.
He was a hands-on EVERYTHING newspaper publisher, like a modern day Benjamin Franklin. If he wasn’t pounding out a thoughtful editorial in his office, he would be cutting up columns, stories and ads by hand. If not in the editing room, you could find him in the dark room developing sports pictures he snapped the night before at a softball game. Or making advertising calls. Or volunteering to help out the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.
No job at the paper - from emptying trash cans to interviewing a Supreme Court Judge - was too big or small for Bill.
And he expected his reporters and editors to share the same approach. Despite being greener than emerging spring grass fresh out of J-school, he had me covering murder trials, writing opinion columns, shooting fire photos, editing copy, issuing FOIAs and every single other reporting and editing job under the sun. The couple years I worked for the NSP built the base of my entire career, and for that I will be forever grateful.
The other thing one needs to know about Bill is that despite being a man of sincerely held political, social and other opinions, he remained open-minded, friendly and thoughtful with all, regardless of their beliefs or background. Those that know me will chuckle at the idea of Bill - a huge Iowa State Cyclone fan and conservative Republican - getting along when discussing sports and politics. But we did! We could use about 100 million more Bills this election season.
Bill could also be quirky and a little socially awkward, in a disarming and fun way. One of my endearing memories of Bill is listening to him recite all 99 Iowa counties in alphabetical order while we were driving together to the state baseball tournament in Ft. Dodge. It lasted for about four miles. Then he did it again, in REVERSE alphabetical order.
It’s hard not to feel sad about the state of the current newspaper industry when you look back at Bill Tubb’s career. We simply do not and will not have many more community-minded journalists of his caliber dedicating their entire lives to serving their readers and fellow residents. This endangered species is edging ever-closer to the “nearly extinct” list and we are all the poorer for that.
As a member of the Iowa Writer’s Collaborative , I hope we are at the beginning of building something that would be worthy of Bill’s approval. Above all, Bill believed in the power of the word, the power of truth and the necessity of sometimes telling hard truths to those in power.
Not to sound grandiose, but democracy depends on that.
As we mourn the loss of another journalism legend we can only hope worthy successors are somewhere in the pipeline. But they will have mighty huge shoes to fill.
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So glad you wrote this Tory, and I'm very sorry to hear this. I inteviewed for a job at the North Scott Press with Bill in the early 1980s when I was at the Ames Tribune. He took me around Eldridge, showed me the town and chatted up folks he knew. Eldridge is really fine town. Ultimately the Tribune made a counteroffer and I stayed in Ames for another year or so.
I spent a great day with Bill and in that brief time I could really see he was not only a community journalist but a real citizen journalist. Folks respected him and understood his job and the mission of his paper. We do so need people like Bill and publications like his. They are part of the very fiber of our communities. And it takes folks like you to convey stories about folks like Bill to hold up that standard for folks in our profession to aspire to. As long as you do that, we have hope. Thank you.
Thank you for writing this, it gave me one more view of the great Bill Tubbs. I got to know Bill through serving on the board of the INA. I could see that he had great insight and was a real icon in the newspaper industry. He will be greatly missed by those in the industry and I am certain those in his community.