The Inside Veer: Welcome to the first printed edition of the Fernley Reporter
Robert Perea, The Fernley Reporter
It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 8 years since I started the Fernley Reporter, on June 1, 2016.
That’s 8 years of trials and tribulations, sweat and tears, although luckily no bloodshed, plenty of work I’m proud of, times that I thought I would quit, and ultimately a collaboration that has brought us to this point.
This space on Page 2 will be the home of my weekly column, which will be called the Inside Veer, a name that pays homage to Fernley High School football. That latter part is important, because Fernley football is actually the reason I’ve continued publishing the Fernley Reporter online for the past 8 years and why we are now ultimately in print.
The reason why is a long story and I wrote an in-depth column explaining it about a year ago that online readers may have already seen, but the short version is this:
In 2019, disappointed that the Fernley Reporter wasn’t making money, and resigned to the fact that it probably never would, I decided to quit. I had been working as a long-term substitute teacher and as the school year was coming to a close, I decided to pursue teaching and give up on the Fernley Reporter. But on the June 1 deadline to renew my business license I was depressed about quitting, so I decided to renew the license, give it one more year, pour myself into it and then if it still didn’t work, I could walk away knowing I gave it my best shot.
Then my mom was diagnosed with multiple brain tumors and my plans changed. She was given only a few months to live, so I dropped everything and took care of her until she died on Veterans Day that November. Meanwhile, that fall the Fernley football team got off to a bad start in league play, losing two games in a row. But then they got hot, won the rest of their games and made the playoffs.
The week after my mom died, Fernley beat Fallon 24-20 to win the 3A state championship, and driving home from that game, I decided that no matter what happened, I couldn’t give up. Those kids didn’t give up when their season was going bad, and they wound up as state champions.
They refused to quit, and so did I.
That brings us to where we are today, thanks to my friends at the Fallon Post, especially Rachel Dahl and Leanna Lehman. They constantly remind me I can’t quit, just as I do for them when times are tough.
The result is that we have teamed up to produce what you are holding in your hands today, the first of what will be weekly printed editions of the Fernley Reporter.
Newspapers have been dying off across the country for the past couple decades, and just last month, the Charlotte Observer cut back from printing six days a week to three. It’s into those rough seas that we launch this ship, but it’s been a long time since Fernley had its own newspaper, and the gap in local news coverage can be felt every day. Because I wasn’t making money online – in in fact it cost me money – I was only able to cover Fernley news part time after the first 18 months, so there is so much I have missed.
This summer someone contacted me and asked why I haven’t covered the things that have been going on at the fire department over the past year or so, specifically asking if I didn’t think they were newsworthy.
On the contrary, it was so immense, and so newsworthy that there was no way I could do it justice covering it part time. If I couldn’t dedicate the time to cover it right, I couldn’t do it at all.
There are so many other examples of things happening in the community, good and bad, that the community needs and deserves to know about. But it takes resources to do it.
And that’s where you come in. This endeavor will only be as successful as you make it, and that means subscriptions, advertising, and community engagement. Hit us up with story ideas and feel free to submit photos, letters to the editor, and feedback.
In return, we will do our best to cover the news, sports, business, local government, education, community announcements and events, entertainment, and everything else that makes a community what it is. I invite you, check that, I implore you, to come along with us for the ride.
Robert Perea
Robert Perea is the editor of the Fernley Reporter. The Inside Veer is one of the key offensive plays the Fernley High School football team runs, the foundation the entire offense is built on, in a sense, and the perfect metaphor for the Fernley Reporter.
