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Do old editors ever really retire? “I will be keeping an eye on The Almanac and offering my help where I can,” says Richard Hine, who after nearly 30 years as The Almanac’s editor has retired, effective this month.
Soon, he’ll be “keeping an eye” on the newspaper he has overseen for all these years from a Southern California perch. He and his wife, former Almanac advertising manager Jennifer Brown Hine, plan to move south to be close to family.
Hired as managing editor in 1988, Mr. Hine has been at the helm of the community paper for well over half its existence, and for the entirety of its online life at AlmanacNews.com. The creation of three Portola Valley women who wanted better coverage of local schools, issues and people of the community, the newspaper was born in 1965 as the Country Almanac.
In his three decades at the paper, Mr. Hine has not wavered in his effort to meet the founders’ goal of keeping residents of the communities served by The Almanac well informed, leading a team of journalists who cover city halls, schools, businesses and much more in Menlo Park, Portola Valley, Woodside and Atherton.
“Richard has epitomized what every community needs from a local newspaper editor,” said Bill Johnson, president and CEO of Embarcadero Media, which has owned The Almanac since 1993. “He cares intensely about getting the facts right, being fair to news sources and mentoring younger journalists.
“He has helped to break many important stories over the years and has supported reporters’ efforts to make sure local government agencies and schools operate with transparency, often when they would prefer not to,” Mr. Johnson said.
“His attention to detail and to everything going on in The Almanac’s circulation area is legendary. The Almanac and its readers have been blessed to have Richard editing the paper for the last 30 years, as have dozens of young reporters who became outstanding journalists under his guidance.”
Renee Batti, who began her tenure at The Almanac in 1991 and has served as associate editor until this month, has stepped into the editor’s position.
“There was never a question that Richard’s successor would be The Almanac’s longtime associate editor, Renee Batti,” Mr. Johnson said. “Renee has worked as a reporter and editor at The Almanac for the last 26 years and has been a big part of the paper’s success.
“She has worked side-by-side with Richard to guide the paper’s coverage and oversee its reporters, and while she will make her own imprint on The Almanac, readers need not fear that a change in editors will bring a change in the paper’s dedication to in-depth coverage of what makes our community so unique.”
Reflecting on his long run at the newspaper, Mr. Hine recalled that when he began his tenure at The Almanac, he also reported on the town of Atherton, “and greatly enjoyed it.” Back then, “we wrote stories on a manual typewriter, which I also loved, and the stories were set by a typesetter,” he said.
Under his leadership, The Almanac won many awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association, including general excellence and public service honors. In the latter category, The Almanac took a first-place award for its in-depth reporting project calling attention to what one legislator called “the ticking time bomb” of the high future costs of paying for public employee pensions, Mr. Hine noted. He added that The Almanac was “way out front” in reporting on the issue when it was a little-known threat to the financial stability of government agencies.
“I am so grateful to have been able to work for The Almanac for nearly 30 years,” Mr. Hine said last week. “I greatly appreciate the contributions of so many people, in the community and on the staff, too numerous to mention, who have kept this enterprise going.
“While The Almanac has a deep history in the community, going back to 1965, the thing to focus on now, and always, is the future: how we can continue to share useful and interesting information necessary for a successful community. The new editor, Renee Batti, who is really a veteran editor at The Almanac, is open to your ideas and contributions.
“Here’s to the next 50 years of The Almanac.”
Thank you, Richard, for your years of professionalism, guidance and service. Best of luck to you and Jennifer on your next chapter. Congrats, Renee, for a job well earned!
What a wonderful publication the Country Almanac has been–a real asset to the communities you serve. Thank you for your guidance over the years, and I know it will continue to be a shining beacon highlighting important news and investigative reporting. Your support for community organizations has been unmatched. With Renee at the helm, I’m know all of this will continue.
Richard – Thank you for your service to our community, your integrity and your leadership.
Richard,
All the best to you. As you know, us old editors don’t really retire, we just think of new projects to do. Hope whatever you decide is enjoyable.
Linda
Umpa –
We are so proud of all your work and that of the whole Almanac team!
The South Bay and really the whole Bay area was lucky to have you all these years — fighting for the Fourth Estate.
You honor all of us with your very public service.
Thank you!
Love,
Your Family and Friends
Goodbye Richard. It is impossible to pack all the good times and bad over the 25 years we worked together into a brief comment. I’ll just say we can both look back with no regrets. I would also say that your dedication to duty–on nights, weekends and right up to and beyond deadline never ceased to amaze me. I don’t think you got much sleep around deadline over the years. You were a master at keeping a million balls in the air and bringing them down as a complete Almanac.
All the best and keep in touch
tom
I wish you all the best. Thanks for working so hard to serve our community.
Thank you for your years of dedication to local news and our community, Richard. We all benefited from your efforts.
Wishing you all the best going forward!
Elianne
I worked as a reporter at The Almanac under Richard’s guidance for two years. He was a fantastic boss and mentor, and had a HUGE (if mostly invisible) role in making the paper what it is. I’m a lawyer now, and think of Richard whenever I’m working with another attorney on a brief. He was so smart and gentle in giving feedback and guiding a story where it needed to go. He made me a much better writer. He will be greatly missed by the journalism community, but The Almanac won’t miss a beat with Renee. Miss you guys, good luck all.