Small Wyoming Paper Welcomes The President p. 11

By: Laura Reina

When Bill Clinton vacations in Jackson Hole, it's big news sp.

PRESIDENT CLINTON'S vacation in Wyoming, in some respects, made the month of August easier for the Jackson Hole News.
"There was never any question about what was going on the front page," said Angus Thuermer Jr., editor of the weekly.
The first family visited Jackson Hole from Aug. 15 to 31 and did "everything recreationally available in Jackson Hole," said Thuermer.
Teton county, home of Grand Teton National Park and about one hour south of Yellowstone National Park, houses 13,000 residents, and during the summer-tourist season, 30,000. Circulation for the Jackson Hole News is 8,000 to 9,000, said Thuermer.
Along with the weekly, the Jackson Hole News also prints a daily tab, theJackson Hole Daily, five days a week. This paper is distributed free, and Thuermer is only responsible for, at least, one local story a day, he said.
Yet, Thuermer lives in Jackson Hole for a reason.
"I can do daily reporting just fine, but I like being here. And we do daily reporting here, but on a smaller scale," he explained.During the first family's visit, there were only a couple of events open to the press ? everything else was "protective pool."For example, when the president played golf, only "pool people" were allowed at the golf course, and those reporters and photographers were required to stay in the clubhouse. Reporters could shout out questions hoping for answers, and photographers could only photograph the president at certain greens.
The only time the pool wasn't watching the president was when he went home, said Thuermer. And while he was visiting, most of the daily stories and space in the weekly newspaper was dedicated to the president.
"His presence made us a little more aware of the challenges of daily reporting. While the president was here, I couldn't leave town or anything," he said.
As a service to the community, the Jackson Hole News inserted an eight-page, special supplement, "A Presidential Vacation," into the weekly (they overran some copies, too), which served as a scrapbook featuring the first family's visit to Jackson Hole.
"We felt the visit here was such a moving experience for so many people in the valley, we wanted to offer them, in one package, a scrapbook of his time in Jackson Hole," said Thuermer.
He added that this section was meant to be mostly pictorial, and it didn't include any of the stories which appeared in the weekly or the daily.
There was no advertising in this special supplement ? it was funded entirely by the Jackson Hole News.
"We justified spending money on this because it was such an overwhelming experience to have the president in our midst for so long. We wanted to give a one-package collector's item to the community," said Thuermer.
The president also made a memorable Jackson Hole News event even more memorable.
Publisher of the weekly, Michael Sellett, along with other Jackson Hole residents, signed up to play golf with the president at Teton Pines. It was an opportunity for the president and residents to have social contact.
During the course of the game, the president noted to Sellett he had seen a special section in the weekly celebrating the paper's 25th year in business. Sellett mentioned there was going to be an open house at the paper later on that afternoon, and invited him to visit.
So he did.Thuermer said the president spent about a half hour in the building. He met many staff members, toured the building and the pressroom, and shook hands with the crowd waiting outside.