Replacing a business reporter with 17 years on the beat

Walt Nett, the new business reporter at the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal in Texas, writes about what it’s like to replace the paper’s business reporter Chris Van Wagenen, who has been covering the beat for 17 years.

Nett writes, “It took a while and a lot of joking with folks over the last three weeks for Chris to stop introducing me as his replacement and simply explain that I’d be taking on the business beat when he left.

“As Eddie McBride at the Chamber and other folks quickly reminded him, he’s irreplaceable.

“I wouldn’t know how to start, and so won’t even begin to try.

“He’s left me a lot of files, but the detailed history headed out the door with him Friday.

“And here we are today, a new kid in town, and for you, readers and business owners, after 17 years with Chris, a new kid on the business beat.”

Read more here.