
FreepCast Episode 68 — Say it ain't so, Joe!
From FreepCast by The Free Press Media
October 9, 2025 · 24 min · Episode 96
About this episode
This episode features Joe discussing his retirement after 75 years at The Free Press, highlighting his old-school journalism style and experiences in the newsroom.
In this episode, we let Joe talk about his retirement after 75 years at The Free Press. Listen, kid, ol’ Joe’s been runnin’ this newsroom since ink came in buckets! They say he’s got printer’s ink in his veins — and decaf coffee in his arteries! Guy edits copy like a surgeon with a hangover. Clean, precise, and somehow, someone still ends up in traction! Back in my day, the boss didn’t need no Google Docs — he just yelled your rewrite across the room and hoped you were fast enough to duck the typewriter ribbon! Y’know, I once saw Joe take a five-word lede and turn it into a three-part series. Now that’s journalism, sweetheart. They say he’s so old-school, his spellcheck’s a Webster’s from 1912. The man still thinks AP Style stands for Always Panic. Every time he says, ‘Let’s keep it tight,’ a feature writer loses their wings.
Topics covered
- journalism
- retirement
- media history
- newsroom culture
- editorial practices
Keywords
- retirement
- The Free Press
- journalism
- newsroom
- editor
- AP Style
- typewriter
- copy editing
- feature writer
Mentioned in this episode
Products: Google Docs, Webster's
Books & works: Webster
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