In the late 1990s/early 2000s, there was one place I turned to for my local news, no matter how long it took to get through the pages—the Omaha World Herald. As a young writer coming out of college, it was a goal of mine to write for this publication, which was thick with information, from politics to lifestyle tidbits to hard investigative news. I landed on a job at the storied paper 2005, and worked there for 10 years until moving to Omaha Publications.
John Gottschalk was the publisher when I first started at the Omaha World-Herald, and I respected his efforts to make it a greater newspaper, and a greater company. When I learned of his passing yesterday, I couldn’t help but remember a man who had the news business in his blood, from starting at a small-town newspaper to overseeing the opening of a $125 million printing facility.
Steve Jordon is a friend I made through my time at the Omaha World-Herald and still admire as a writer, and a person, today. He had this to say about Gottschalk:
“John was a true leader, and a guy who took charge of whatever needed doing,” Jordon said. “He supported the people working for him. Even when something was controversial, John stuck by his news staff.”
Gottschalk’s other commitment was to the city of Omaha, one that he helped advance in numerous ways—from the zoo to Omaha Performing Arts to Child Saving Institute and so much more.
In fall 2007, before announcing his January 2008 retirement, Gottschalk told his story to B2B Omaha. The article precedes our electronic publications, but we found a hard copy of the story in our files, which we are bringing to you here:
