Twenty-five years ago, when we first looked into entering the newspaper business in Waco, the round number of $100 million surfaced as the approximate cost to adequately compete with the well-entrenched Waco Tribune-Herald. Several associates and potential investors shied away from the proposed deal, saying it would be insanity to spend that type of money and go up against a powerhouse national news organization.

They were right. It would have been.

Twenty-five years later, when news organizations all over America were tanking, shedding employees and sacrificing news coverage, the Tribune-Herald was placed up for sale. The overriding thought at the time was that only crazy people would buy newspapers because, after all, their ships were sinking.

Which, in short, opened the door to that long-ago idea I had of owning and operating a newspaper in my hometown of Waco.

Newspapers have been a cherished part of my life since childhood. In the tradition of another era, I used to actually deliver the Trib as a boy.

But newspapers remained a part of my life as I grew older. I can’t remember when I didn’t read newspapers. To this day, I read at least four a day, ranging from the Tribune-Herald to The New York Times to The Wall Street Journal.

So when the Trib was placed on the auction block by Atlanta-based Cox Newspapers in August 2008 after more than three decades of ownership, I found myself drawn back to the idea of making it locally owned in every conceivable way.

Gleaning tidbits of information concerning a potential price for the Trib only piqued our interest, even as my son Gordon and I quickly realized we knew next to nothing about the actual running of a good-sized news operation like the Trib.

The subject surfaced last May over dinner with longtime friend Dan Savage, who spent 10 years running the Trib before retiring in 2005. We’ve always felt comfortable speaking our minds around Dan (as he has with us). And so, after vigorously debating the idea for a while, Dan said: “OK. You buy it, I’ll run it.”

We never would have undertaken this venture without his capable, invaluable assistance.

Even after three months of success, though, I still get the question: What on earth possessed you, after so many years in business, to get into the newspaper game at this critical juncture?

First and foremost, our entry into the news business was predicated on its being a sound business opportunity with great potential. It was and is our belief that the Trib presents just such an opportunity, built on its many years of news-gathering experience and the trust most of our readers have in its fair and balanced coverage of everything from sports to politics to, yes, controversy at my beloved Baylor University.

Each morning, during the Trib’s very lively editorial board meetings, we discuss news of the day. Our job is made easy by the breadth of coverage of an experienced and resourceful news staff working under capable editors. Back when other papers were giving up veterans in the business, these editors endeavored to hold together the Trib newsroom, and in thin times indeed.

But the marvels of this newspaper extend to other departments, including advertising and circulation, all working hard to satisfy a philosophy we share — putting our readers first, then advertisers, then our staff and ourselves.

True, we’ve added a more conservative bent to Trib editorials to better reflect the general political sentiments of our readers, if election results are any indication. But we’re also committed to a page that is balanced and lively with perspectives from throughout the political spectrum — regardless of whether we personally agree with them. We see that as the essence of America.

Our decision to invest in this operation and increase newsroom hirings, thereby expanding coverage, has allowed us to take an already great newspaper and make it even better. We see no reason why that won’t continue, teamwork here being what it is and Waco being the terrific news town it has always been.

Clifton Robinson is chairman of Robinson Media, which owns the Tribune-Herald.