Tribune bids the captain farewell
Ms. Cookie Micaller, editor, Saipan Tribune leaves today for home. How fast time travels. How short the three-year stint she spent here. It seems as though it was only yesterday.
She’s undoubtedly done a sterling job as a political reporter who earlier covered the governor’s office. She’s a hardworking journalist who has gone the distance to ensure that she gets — what’s known in the business–as the “story behind the story”.
Her stories were well defined, meaningful and most importantly, accurate. She’s outdistanced everyone else covering the same beat. She and Linda Blue Romero are the most respected journalists among those who hailed from the Pearl of the Orient. They’ve forced the separation of the men from the boys. I will sorely miss their wit and forthright viewpoints when it comes down to the nitty gritty of real journalism.
Indeed, we’ve had our differences, good and bad times, sad and joyful moments, too. Despite it all, we never lost sight of the job at hand. She was fair, firm and was very instrumental in the resuscitation of a high school dummy sheet into a real newspaper. I am sure most of you will agree that the Tribune has become the newspaper of command.
Perhaps the saddest moment with Cookie was the day her mom died last year. After the internment, she returned to her desk one evening and quietly wept as she scribbled her weekly column how mom would wait for her return from overseas at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. She said “mom will no longer be there”, an occasion both look forward to. She’s going home but mom won’t be there to greet her.
I tried to dissuade her from leaving. She maintains that it’s time to “move on” to new opportunities. Perhaps she misses real city life or the daily grind of working for mainstream newspapers back home or nearby Asian countries. Well, fully poised journalists usually “move on” to expand their horizons. While such is the case, Cookie knows that I am relegated to this small rock for life. However a messy place, it still is paradise for this Chamolinian.
I wish you well in your search for something better or greater. I know that your departure wouldn’t sink instantly into my teeny cranium until Thursday morning or when I no longer hear you on the phone asking, “Haye este?”–or–“Hafa malago`mo?” I also hope that you all have found your stint here in the Taga Stone famous isles of the Marianas, enriching.
Indeed, you have enriched my life as a professional. You have played a key role in the grand success of the Tribune that now commands more than 18,000 daily readership in both hard copy and Online editions. God bless you all yan un` sumen dañkulo na Si Yuus Maase`!
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I will sorely miss the planning session where we gather at the end of the week to map-out issues that require coverage.
Some three years ago, we decided to take the daily pulse of the local economy from tourism to construction activities. Both have gone south resulting in the closure of more than 2,000 businesses.
It was humbling how investments from nearby industrialized countries play a key role in the success or failure of businesses here. It was even stunning how policymakers have fueled the fire of major losses in revenue generation.
It was a struggle trying to keep our sanity. So we had to resort to humor to ward off our frustrations. But in this business, everyday is a new day where you’re expected to rise above the fray so that you don’t become part of the story. Anyway, it’s been a most fruitful experience so far. As yet, I am not ready to hang up my gloves. The fun has just started!
Strictly a personal view. John S. DelRosario Jr. is publisher of Saipan Tribune.
