One of the most important parts of our newspaper is the obituary section. The obits are one of the first things I read every morning. It’s a good way to learn about little tidbits of the community, enjoy some incredible accomplishments of ordinary and extraordinary people, and lament the fact that people had much cooler names way back when. Yesterday, there was an obit of a gentleman named Peter Smits that caught my eye. In the notice, it mentioned a story written about his family on Christmas Day, 1949, a few months after they moved to the United States from Russia.
I’m always interested in how we covered stories in the past, so I had our crack news research department find the story, and I’ve attached it above. It’s a little difficult to read, but not impossible. And it’s a good story, filled with strong passages and nice phrases. What struck me was how similar many things are in terms of stories about refugees making their way in a strange land, and also how much has changed. For one thing, most of the stores mentioned are no longer here. In addition, the reporter notes how the Journal bought the family a hat, gloves and a basketball as part of their shopping spree. A thoughtful gesture, but one that seems a little at odds with the more distant approach to coverage that dominates today.
Finally, a staff departure. Phoebe Zerwick, our state editor and an investigative reporter of unparalleled accomplishment, will be leaving the Journal. Her last day is today, as she embarks on a career as a free-lance writer. Phoebe has been a good friend and colleague for 20+ years, and I’m happy that at least one of those parts will remain after today. Her work on the Darryl Hunt case, the Kalvin Smith case and a host of other important pieces of public-service journalism—from race relations to infant mortality—have left an indelible mark on this paper and the community.
Your host is Ken Otterbourg, the managing editor at the Winston-Salem Journal. It's a forum to discuss the media, from 
In my opinion, Darryl Hunt is free today thanks to Phoebe Zerwick. She is one of the best investigative journalists out there.
I’m sorry to hear Phoebe is leaving the Journal. I wish her all the best in the future.
Best wishes to Phoebe as a freelancer!
Good riddance. She will not be missed. Now if she would only take Sexton with her.
I would ignore any comment tagged Anonymous.
Zerwick is an excellent journalist whose work will me missed by many who have appreciated reading her work for years. In the stories she has investigated and the persons she has spoken up for she has demonstrated the highest standards of public service journalism. Here’s hoping we’ll see some of her free-lance work published in the Journal.
After two years of doing this blog, I have done something I never had to do, which is kill a post. The nature of our blogging software allows people to pretend to be somebody they’re not, and a poster pretended to be Mills, when he or she wasn’t.
I am all for free and open discourse. You are allowed to agree with me or tell me that I’m full of it. You don’t even have to use your name. That’s fine. But I like a certain level of honesty.
Thnx
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