Our online house has "spruced up" ...

Just a note that today marks a big breakthrough for the Laredo Morning Times. While I know many of you find a lot of fun in bashing the Times, sometimes it is worthy of pointing out when progress is made.

So in the spirit of progress, I hope you will take a look at our expanded multimedia section at www.lmtonline.com.

A number of people have worked hard and diligently in order to make this happen. I mean people in front of the scenes and behind the scenes here at LMT, too. In this space, I am choosing to honor them all for their tireless efforts.

Am I boasting here? Yeah, yet in a good way.

Leadership is about encouraging, nurturing and helping people become who they want to be within a workplace, family or community. It takes heart, guts and a deep awareness of humanity to be a true leader.

These people are leaders. There are many like them behind the scenes at Laredo Morning Times.

It's just my opinion and, no, I'm not getting a raise for this blog entry either.

Have a great day, Laredo.

-- Joe Rutland

Back from Central America ...

Public and private sector individuals, including Laredo Mayor Raul Salinas and City Manager Carlos Villarreal, provided information and pictures from their recent Central America trip at a Wednesday afternoon press conference.
Most of the pictures taken and provided to the public show members of the Laredo contingency holding discussions with Central American contacts as well as numerous group shots, too.
LMT staff writer Zach Lindsey will have a story in Thursday's Laredo Morning Times about what these public and private sector leaders said at their press conference.
Hopefully, their meetings will lead to greater business for Laredo.
More on this in the near future.

-- Joe Rutland

Class was, and is always, in session ...

Sometimes, I get too caught up in what's going on in my own world (professionally and personally) that a unique opportunity to tell others about how and what I and we do at Laredo Morning Times is a gift.
Such was the case recently when St. Augustine High School students dropped by for an hour-long tour of LMT's operations.
Showing students where retail advertising, classified advertising, editorial content and page designers work to produce a daily newspaper was pretty hip for me.
They also got a peek at the mailroom and press areas which, as many know, were consolidated with our Hearst Corporation fellow publication, the San Antonio Express-News. I believe it was important to show them these areas and let them see and know about their importance.
I also believe they found something of interest which can help them formulate ideas, thoughts and concepts about their future endeavors in journalism.
To me, journalism and newspapers are two different entities altogether.
Journalism is a vocation, albeit one which gets rapped every day for something -- and it matters not whether the fairest, well-written story ever appeared in print media. Trust me, someone will find fault with it. That's human nature.
Newspapers are a vehicle for journalism, one which has a vast history of providing readers with records of births, life and deaths. It also has a background of recording history's triumphs and tragedies, too.
So it was my honor to act as tour guide for the class.
They were attentive students, willing to walk around, see and ask questions.
Hopefully, it let them know journalism and newspapers will be around in some way, shape and form for years to come.

-- Joe Rutland