Bad television was a big part of the creation of Town Talk.

While some of these posts made about as much sense as the plot of a Gilligan’s Island episode, that’s not what I’m talking about. Rather, there was a time when I personally created bad television.

Years ago, under different ownership, the Journal-World newsroom collaborated with its then sister-organization 6News, which was a television news broadcast that aired daily on Lawrence’s cable television system.

The dedicated crew of anchors and reporters at 6News were talented. Many of them moved on from 6News to television jobs in bigger markets. Most of us newspaper reporters, though, didn’t have the same television skillset.

While I never figured out whether it was for comedic effect or was part of a dark psychological experiment, many of us newspaper reporters often found ourselves not only doing television pieces but actual live television. The least experienced of us would get put in front of a camera and have somebody talking into our earpiece saying, “and you’re live.” After a moment of stunned silence, they sometimes would add “like, right now, you are live.”

Eventually, we all got cancelled. The cable system got sold, and without the bond of common ownership, the Journal-World newsroom stopped collaborating with 6News.

What I found in the aftermath is that creating bad television had taken a lot of my time. No longer required to write television scripts and edit video, I found I had some newfound time in my schedule. My full-time role at the newspaper was as a City Hall reporter, and I always had some leftover news and notes from City Commission meetings or items I heard around City Hall. Plus, as a the City Hall reporter, I had a pretty good view of new businesses that were coming to town, since most development proposals wind through City Hall.

So, I started using my newfound time to write up those news and notes from around town. Readers responded well, and so did my editors. One editor, though, encouraged me to start putting some of my personality into the posts. As a result, I believe she is now part of the witness-protection program, so I’ll do her a favor and keep her name out of this.

The cable system, Sunflower Broadband, sold in 2010, so I guess I’ve been writing Town Talk for 15 or 16 years now. As they say in the television business, though, it is time for a cast change.

While I’m staying with the Journal-World, I’m passing the Town Talk responsibilities over to Sylas May. Sylas is our City Hall reporter. It is no coincidence that he’s covering the beat I did when Town Talk was started. I always felt that was when Town Talk was its strongest. The beat produces a lot of good fodder. Thus, that synergy is one reason I’m making the change.

Another reason is that I’m excited to tackle some new projects. One of them will be a new, full-fledged opinion column. I started my journalism career with a goal of being a newspaper columnist. I ended up enjoying the challenge of finding and reporting facts more than the idea of spouting my own opinion, so I moved on from that goal rather quickly.

Now, after nearly 35 years as a journalist in Douglas County, I’ve come back around to the idea. I’m hopeful of coming up with a way to write an opinion column that involves less spouting and more conversing. I don’t think Lawrence, nor the world, has a shortage of spouting but it might be running low on conversation. When I decided to pursue this column idea, I wrote a note to myself about the goal: “Let’s be thoughtful. Don’t be cheap or crass.” Hopefully I can live up to that.

I also hope to get back to writing about some thoughtful one-on-one conversations with area residents who have something interesting to say. Additionally, I hope to still break some news from time to time. I like digging into matters, and this column will provide me a forum to report what I find.

Who knows whether I can actually pull all of that off. It seems like it is worth trying. Generally, the column will run at least weekly, but perhaps a few times per week when the topics allow. I plan to get started soon.

Cue the theme song about a three-hour tour and a fateful trip.