There’s nothing like a distant trip to make you appreciate the comforts of home, and after four days 763 miles from Cassville as the crow flies, the Troutman family is happy to be back.
Our trip to Toronto, Canada, was two years in the making, spurred by our first time attending the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors (ISWNE) conference in Lexington, Kent., in 2022, where I accepted a Golden Dozen award for editorial writing. At that conference, it was mentioned 2024’s would be in Toronto, so we began planning.
This trip was my third out of the country and second for my wife and two daughters, the previous excursions being limited port visits via cruise ships. We spent three days in the middle of downtown Toronto, 16 stories above the street, enjoying a dramatic change in scenery from the comparative wide openness of Cassville.
Thursday we groaned out of bed after the 3 a.m. check-in and made our way to the Royal Ontario Museum. On Friday, we embarked on the quintessential Canadian adventure — Niagara Falls. I had never imagined visiting such a natural wonder, and it did not disappoint.
We then visited an aviary and a butterfly conservatory, injecting another Canadian staple in between locations — a sizable order of cheese curd poutine from a hole-in-the-wall burger joint just outside the Bransonesque strip in Niagara.
Those two days of exploration with our 9- and 2-year-old a full of too many memories to fit in this column, and we feel incredibly blessed to be able to provide such a worldly opportunity to our children at such a young age.
Saturday was back to business, beginning with the trademark ISWNE conference exercise, the editorial critique sessions. Participants were split into three groups of about four newspapers each and 8-10 total providing feedback mainly on the papers’ opinion pages, as a major focus of ISWNE is utilizing commentary to strengthen communities.
My group included newspapers in Maryville, Mo., Marysville, Kan., and southeast Ontario, Canada, as well as critics from New York, New Mexico and Missouri.
The open exchange of ideas, practices, approaches and methods is a unique exercise and forces all of us running a paper week in and week out to find ways to better our coverage and service to our communities. In 2022, the editorial critique session was where I developed a plan to print consistent guest columnists, and the critics were complimentary of not only the fact we have so many consistent writers — which shows the strength of the paper in the community — but also the quality of writing.
That was a proud moment. Another such moment came that evening at the conference’s gala. My Sept. 19, 2023, column entitled “A time to collaborate” — a commentary on the first Citizens for Justice-Barry County meeting — was selected as one of the top 12 of nearly 100 Golden Quill contest entries, many from journalists far, far more accomplished than myself. Members of ISWNE include Pulitzer Prize winners, for example. It is incredibly thrilling and humbling to be considered one of the top writers among them.
It’s even more incredible to bring that international acclaim back to Cassville. From a city of 3 million to a town of 3,000, I could not be more proud to represent our little slice of southwest Missouri on such a stage.
A major point that stuck with me at the gala was from ISWNE’s outgoing president’s speech. In short, he detailed how local newspapers continued to be the most trusted news sources. Why is that?
It’s because unlike TV news, larger regional papers or cable channels, the people we write about are our neighbors. Knowing our subjects so personally and being so accessible keeps us honest and striving to provide fair and accurate coverage to our readers who truly care about local news and cannot get it anywhere else.
That point was driven home to me when we returned to the city of seven valleys on Sunday. After a 3 a.m. wake-up, two flights and the drive home, I hit Walmart at 3 p.m. to pick up some essentials and begin resting. In just 10 minutes at the store, I ran into two county candidates for election in the August primary and the banker who provided us the initial financial boost when we bought the Democrat in 2023.
I was out of the big city and back in my community. As I look back on the venture now, the conference and trip as a whole are serving as an inspiration to me as this summer continues. Our second of four sheriff candidate questionnaires is in this week’s issue, and I plan in coming weeks to run more on the northern commissioner and coroner races.
The Democrat is also hosting a sheriff candidate forum for July 12 at 7 p.m. at the FEMA Event Center, expanding beyond our normal coverage to provide not only an in-person event, but one we can live stream to include an even greater audience.
As honored as I was to receive a Golden Dozen award and as inspired as I am by my ISWNE colleagues, my greatest motivation is you, our readers.
It is for you we push out award-winning journalism week after week, hoping to keep you educated, informed and even entertained. It is for you we attend as many events as we can and have begun hosting so many of our own.
It is for you we do what we do, and I’m elated to be home and back at it.
Kyle Troutman has served as editor of the Cassville Democrat since 2014 and owner/publisher since 2023. He was named William E. James/Missouri Outstanding Young Journalist for daily newspapers in 2017, and he is a two-time ISWNE Golden Dozen award winner. He may be reached at 417-847 2610 or ktroutman@cassville-democrat.com.
