I’ve been very lucky in my career. No, I haven’t risen to national prominence. I won’t become world famous. No books will be written about me. No biographies will stain bookshelves. Only a few people might remember me when I’m gone. Perhaps the best eulogy I’ll get from a colleague is, “Rob Archer? Yeah, he was okay.”

That’s fine.

I have been lucky in that, in good jobs and bad, I have been doing something I enjoy doing. Even when I was in places where the situation was tortuous, the essential nature of my job was still enjoyable.

The essential nature is very simple, maybe too simple: I enjoy sitting in a room, talking into a microphone, and knowing that someone somewhere is hearing it. That’s the center. That’s home plate. Maybe that’s crazy, I don’t know. But strip everything else away, that’s the main thing.

I enjoy other aspects, especially in the job I do now. I’m part of this nation’s fabric of journalism, of informing people so that they make better decisions when voting. I work at a place where I can be proud of what we do. I’m surrounded by smart and talented coworkers.

But it all stems from the core: Talking into a microphone. Everything radiates from there. And I genuinely enjoy irradiating people…