A Newspaper in Texas

Genres: Historical Mysteries; Suspense

Synopsis

 

A Newspaper in Texas

The Series

It feels odd to think that the 1980s are a part of history rather than a part of the present. But 40 years ago, things were very different: Photographers processed film in darkrooms, newspapers were designed by typing in codes that were similar to HTML — no InDesign, no Photoshop — and the latest cool thing was something called an Apple. Reporters spent a lot of time looking for a phone — no cell phones, no laptops. Newspapers were profitable, most large cities had more than one, and corporations were just beginning to buy them up as profitable commodities, unlike today where some cities have no daily newspaper at all.

Styles were different — no Lycra — and men wore their hair longer. (If you want to see what a newsroom looked like, check out Absence of Malice or Broadcast News.) People smoked. A lot. In restaurants, in other people’s cars, and in the newsroom.

But some things were the same. Banks were in trouble. The economy was in bad shape, and bankruptcies were at an all-time high. It was the time of the worst recession since the Great Depression — until now. Technology was changing the way journalism was done, and people predicted that newspapers would be dead because of that new technology — television. Just like now with the Internet.

And some things don't change. People are people — generous and greedy, smart and stupid, crazy and brilliant, and everything in between. Just like now.

Katy Williams was hired to make the Plains City Gazette into a modern newspaper. She's got enough on her plate with the newspaper, a Texan boyfriend, and Texas in general — she tells her friends back home these are her foreign correspondent years. She's understaffed, overworked and just grateful to get the newspaper out every day.

And if that was all she faced? She'd call it good. Unfortunately, this is Texas.