The young journalist who was somewhat listening to the elder newspaperman on the other side of the desk didn’t have a clue.

The 24-year-old reporter, who was about to have the first real wake-up call of his professional life, was likely a little brash and displayed an attitude. Like others who have hit some roadblocks early in their career, this Auburn University graduate had some book sense but evidently not a lot of common sense. As he soon discovered, the common sense would been have better in this situation.

A few minutes after the conversation started, it was over. The self-proclaimed wonder kid who thought his journalism career path would lead him to professional heights similar to Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein of Watergate fame, found himself among the unemployed.

Less than two months after accepting the job, the newlywed now had to find a way to tell his bride the job that brought the couple from south to north Alabama was gone. It was not an easy task.

To put this story into perspective, the newspaperman at the desk that day was Bob Bryan, then owner and publisher of The Cullman Times. And, you guessed it; the young reporter was the same person who is writing this column.

Somehow, with a little help from our parents, we made it through this first major hardship and life moved on as we returned to south Alabama, vowing never to return to Cullman, unless it was passing through on I-65.

However, as we all know, life is full of twists, and now 30 years later, I am typing on a keyboard that a few people have told me is sitting on the same desk where I likely sat on that unfortunate (or fortunate) day early in my career.

Since that memorable day, a lot has changed both personally and professionally. For the purpose of this column, I will bypass the personal happenings – keep those thoughts for another day — and focus on the professional side.

Following the rush to leave Cullman in the rearview mirror, there was a 13-year stint in Dothan, including 10 as editor of The Dothan Eagle, and then stops at newspapers in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas and Oklahoma before recently returning to Cullman.

It’s been a great ride in an industry that has experienced a lot of changes, especially in the past eight years with the explosion of the Internet and social media. The newspaper journey has been rewarding, and despite what many pundits might advise, if given the same circumstances when I was in college, it’s likely a professional path I would travel again.

I challenge those newspaper critics to show me any business that has not changed since the recession of 2008-2009 or to meet the demands of today’s digital world. Although it took some of us who have ink flowing through our veins awhile to wake-up and realize that change was inevitable, we now understand change is everywhere and change is good.

In my recent move to Cullman, I came across a column I had written for a national newspaper organization a few years ago when the industry was undergoing major changes during the recession. What I penned at that time mostly remains in place today — community newspapers, like The Times, are still important to thousands of residents in cities and towns across this nation.

One column highlight stated that a local newspaper is in many ways like a fabric that binds a community together. A community’s newspaper is the primary information pipeline that delivers who, what, when, where and why to its readers.

From death notices to who scored the touchdown at Friday night’s high school football game to the activity of the police or fire departments and much more, there is no medium that does it better than the community newspaper. Also, it’s clippings from community newspapers that are found in many scrapbooks and shoe boxes stored in closets, attics, basements and garages — bits and pieces that tell yesterday’s stories again and again.

As I recently told a group of local leaders, it’s still this newspaper’s job to serve as a mirror for Cullman and the surrounding towns that make-up this great part of Alabama.

Yesterday it was a printed newspaper delivered by a paperboy on his bike. Today, in addition to the traditional print format, the information is delivered on a variety of multi-media platforms to better serve the lifestyles of our readers and needs of our advertisers.

Whether in print, via social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter or in a digital format on desktops, tablets or smartphones, our mission to deliver local information remains constant. And, although we will continue to tweak our delivery formats in the future, our primary role to serve readers and advertisers remains in the forefront.

So, despite vowing to leave Cullman for good early in my career, it’s great to be back and lead the dedicated team at The Times working to produce the best information source serving this unique north Alabama community.

For those of you I have met since returning to Cullman, the welcome has been true Southern hospitality. For those I have not yet had the privilege of meeting, I am looking forward to the opportunity.

Publisher Terry Connor welcomes your comments, and he can be reached at 256-734-2131, ext. 111, or by email tconnor@cullmantimes.com.