Riding off into the sunset

Oh, The Web I have Woven

By Emily Esterson , 5-10-07

Almost exactly two years ago, I did something I’d been contemplating for quite some time. I quit my safe, very well paying, relatively easy, but-oh-so-boring job.

Part of what gave me the guts to quit after seven years, at leave five of them spent thinking about doing other things, was an encounter with Jonathan Weber, who had a not-yet-hatched plan for this Rocky Mountain regional online media project called New West. We knew some people in common. I knew of Jonathan from his days at the Industry Standard. Not only was I intrigued, I wanted Jonathan to offer me a job.

He did, and while the pay wasn’t nearly close to my former salary, it was enough to pay the bills, and more importantly, the excitement of the challenge ahead had me charged up about the media business for the first time in a long time. Part of what kept me at my former job for so long was a lack of what vision about what was next. New West provided that.

In the meantime I rustled up a great deal of freelance work, more than I had imagined before leaving the newspaper. Time ticked on. New West grew and I learned so very much about so many things: The Internet, the ups and downs of visitors, the rapidly changing tastes of the public, my own capacity to conjure up a post every day (mostly--I admit slacking when I was sick, traveling, or buried under deadlines). I found myself feeling very attached to my readers. I had no idea how much I’d learn when I first took on the New West Albuquerque/Santa Fe node, and for that I’m very grateful.

Another great advantage to this thing we call the web, and all the freedom it allows us, is how much I’ve gotten to write, and the variety of topics I’ve written about. In fact, I probably avoided the one thing I was most known for as a journalist: business writing. I wanted to write about food and neighborhoods, and gardening and farming in the west. I wrote about politics (and continue to) and local government. I got to be vocally critical about the sometimes cockamamie schemes that the New Mexico government hatches and gets away with. 

Writing every single day was the best thing that happened to my writing. Forming a cohesive (okay, some of you may disagree with me on this one) essay a couple of times a week is the best way to stretch my writing muscles. At times I’ve experimented and played with my posts, and I hope my readers have been appreciative.

If this sounds like goodbye, it is, and it isn’t. The Albuquerque/Santa Fe node has not had the traffic we would have liked, partially because of my own time constraints, and so we made a decision to focus on the Northern Rockies, where the New West brand is already quite stronger and getting stronger. I’ll still post my weekly Richardson roundup, and I’ll be working on some exciting special projects for the site coming up. So keep checking back for New West’s coverage of all things West. 

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