BEAUMONT, Texas — After more than four decades in the news industry, a journalist who worked for three Southeast Texas news outlets is ready to relax amid his upcoming retirement.
Thomas Taschinger announced his upcoming retirement Sunday. Taschinger is the opinion editor for the Beaumont Enterprise and a political analyst for 12NewsNow.
Taschinger recently turned 70. He began his extensive career in the news industry 43 years ago.
“First newspaper job we had a computer," Taschinger said. "It was called a Video Display Terminal, which was basically an electronic typewriter."
Taschinger was hired as a reporter in Nebraska on June 23, 1979. Throughout the years, he feels the industry has changed drastically.
"So, at every stage of my career, the technology has gotten more and more sophisticated,” Taschinger said.
Taschinger moved to Southeast Texas in 1983 to work as a reporter at the Port Arthur News. He became their editorial page manager in 1985, later moving to the Beaumont Enterprise in 1995 for the same position.
"The enterprise was the biggest newspaper, still is in Southeast Texas, so I felt I was in the top spot,” Taschinger said. “I always tell people I felt like I was the starting shortstop for the Houston Astros. I was right there, right where I wanted to be.”
Seven years ago, Taschinger became a political commentator for 12NewsNow. During this time, he has offered crucial context and perspective.
"They want to know what is important about this race, was this win expected, was the voter turnout what was expected,” Taschinger said. “Your viewers want to know, well what's going on."
Over the years, Taschinger has written thousands of columns. He reminisced on some of the many memorable moments he had while working in the news industry.
"Well, I covered the Democratic and Republican national political conventions two or three times,” Taschinger said. “I went to the economic summit in Houston in 1990, which was a worldwide event.”
After traveling the globe, Taschinger is now ready to settle down and enjoy spending his free time with his grandchildren.
"The time was right,” Taschinger said. “I have seven grandchildren with two more on the way. So I'm in pretty good health. I'm financially secure, so it was just time. It was time for me to move on and turn the job over to someone else".
Taschinger plans to stay in Southeast Texas and is looking forward to plenty of rest.