If the current workers of Diario LA RIOJA are asked about Chusmari, a smile will appear on their face. A grin of happiness, of affection for a colleague who, as he himself says, has fixed almost everything at the newspaper. If a computer … It didn’t work, there was Chusmari. If a door didn’t open, Chusmari was there. If a drawer got stuck, Chusmari was there. If a lamp needed to be changed, Chusmari was there.
Not in vain, Chusmari (whose full name is Jesús María Fernández) started working at Diario LA RIOJA back in 1977. “I joined by chance, after the death of one of the linotype mechanics,” he remembers. “They asked my brother if he knew any mechanics and they grabbed me,” he adds.
Fernández has experienced the evolution of the newspaper: “It has been a beautiful process in which we have all adapted”
He was, as he says, “about fifteen days” on trial. “It seems that no one complained and I stayed fixed,” she says. And from that day until his farewell, 32 years passed in which Fernández experienced a profound transformation of his work at a newspaper. From linotype machines to computers, goodbye to the rotary press… “It has been a very beautiful process in which we all adapted,” he points out while highlighting something that remained unchanged over time. «At the newspaper, the atmosphere has always been phenomenal, like a family; all united », he certifies.
Fernández started working the night shift, from 9:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. “Later, when they took away the printing press, the schedule became more flexible,” he points out, later remembering the moment when “the most modern computers” arrived. Another new adaptation. “There were programs for everything and thank goodness Enrique Medrano appeared as boss and took a lot of work away from me,” he congratulates himself.
In 2009 the time came to end his time at Diario LA RIOJA and, associated with that moment, he was able to enjoy an indelible memory. “They gave me a tribute to which everyone came and it was very exciting,” he recalls. “The only thing missing was the night colleagues, who had to work so that the next day’s newspaper could come out,” adds Fernández, who every time he has the opportunity to say good words for the rest of the newspaper workers. “The bad times come now, when some of them are gone, and very young,” he laments before citing, among others, Esperanza Martínez-Zaporta, Javier Asín and, of course, José Antonio, his brother. . “He was a better mechanic than me,” he says.
The memory he has of all of them (and the rest of the editorial team) is fantastic and that affection is reciprocal. Chusmari has left his mark on Diario LA RIOJA. He was always there to lend a hand. “And I’m happy to do it,” he concludes.
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