The intern becomes the teacher

TMC Publications sales representative Denis Woulfe has worked on both the editorial and advertising sides of newspapers, and relishes the opportunity to work with area businesses on developing marketing plans and finding solutions to reaching their audience.

I often tell people that I was the intern that never left some 46 years ago. I was fresh out of Hamline University and took a job at the Midway Monitor as editor after a brief internship. Over the years my roles changed as I started working more and more with the advertising end of the business. I was at times Editor, Typesetter, Proofreader, Ad Rep, Director of Marketing, and maybe a few roles that defied description. In a small business you do a little of everything and don’t worry so much about the title. Also, the business, after all, has changed over time.
There are fewer printed newspapers and fewer papers that are being delivered to your doorsteps, which makes papers like the Midway Como Frogtown Monitor, the Longfellow Nokomis Messenger, and the Southwest Connector quite special indeed. We continue to serve our neighborhoods by providing high quality news to our readers and a forum for businesses to reach their market through advertising.
I have many memories over those same 46 years. We used to do election endorsements for the Monitor during election cycles and conducted in person interviews with each of the candidates. It took an incredible amount of time. No other neighborhood newspapers were endeavoring endorsements on that scale.
I remember meeting Amy Klobuchar for the first time when she was a candidate for Hennepin County Attorney coming in for an interview. We also chatted about her father, Jim Klobuchar, former columnist for the Star Tribune, and as I think back on that year we really had a whole host of high-profile candidates circulate through our offices on North Fairview in St. Paul. (That MAY have even been the year that a disgruntled reader threw a nasty brick through the front window of our office building after the endorsement issue was distributed because they didn’t like who we had endorsed.)
One of those visiting candidates, Congressman Bruce Vento, ended up writing me a congratulatory letter in 1988 after the Monitor won 10 awards at the Twin Cities Neighborhood Press Association. It’s not something that I would have expected, but it was nice of him (or rather one of his staff members!) to take the time to do. I do think the statement in his letter – “It’s a remarkable achievement and a reflection of the valuable public service your newspaper provides the community” – is still true of all our newspapers years later.
While I have enjoyed the chance to be the “intern” that continues to learn things over the years, I always wanted the chance to do a little teaching. When I was at Hamline University in the 70s, I debated whether I would get certified to teach or pursue journalism as my career. At the time I decided I would pursue journalism, major in English, and take a large dose of Shakespeare classes with Professor George Vane, a teaching legend at Hamline University for many years.
But years later, I always wondered about the path not taken. When I was editor of the Monitor and the Messenger one of the things I enjoyed the most was working with news interns from Macalester and Hamline and other schools that were coming up and learning their trade, helping them to become better writers. I was always proud when I learned that they had moved on to achieve a new position or had won an award for their writing or photography.
Friday, June 13 will be my last day at TMC Publications after my years of working for the current and former owners of the Monitor, the Messenger and the Southwest Connector. I have a short call teaching license that will allow me to return to the classroom and work with students once again. There is something special about seeing students of all ages when they have that lightbulb moment, and I’m looking forward to being part of an educational environment.
What do I remember the most about my years working for the newspapers? I remember former St. Paul City Councilmember Kiki Sonnen, who used to visit our offices on University Avenue and every time she entered she would shout “STOP THE PRESSES!” I remember meeting all the pastors of the Longfellow Ministerial Association back in the 1990s when we first started publishing the Longfellow Nokomis Messenger. I remember the principal of St. Columba School dropping off press releases to the Monitor office each month because he knew how important it was for the school to have that valuable local publicity.
I will treasure the many relationships I developed over the years and the many folks from the community devoted to making their communities a better place in which to live, work, and play and partnering with our newspapers in that effort. And I hope to watch that special partnership continue as my journey continues in a different path.
“LET THE PRESSES ROLL!”