In just over a week I will be able to say that I’ve worked for my hometown newspaper for 22 years.
After moving back home in April 2003upon leaving my job in the information technology industry, I didn’t rush into finding a new job. I filed for unemployment and took my time. I applied for dozens, possibly hundreds of jobs. I interviewed for some - one of which was for the City Code Enforcement Officer position for the City of Barbourville. If memory serves me correctly, it was a newly-created position at the time. I didn’t go into it with much confidence. Why should I? I worked as an I.T. director and in tech support for two large corporations for years before that, but I had no government bonafides or engineering credentials. It didn’t take long for me to realize that you don’t necessarily need to have many qualifications at all to work in the government, and much of government work is learned hands-on.
A short time after that interview I saw an ad in the newspaper. Yes, before I worked for the paper, I read the paper. I actually worked as a volunteer for The Mountain Advocate my freshman year of high school under the guidance of Editor David Cole and Editor Emeritus Richard Trimble. I remember the late Tuesday evenings as I built ads in PageMaker while Suzanne Saunders composed columns of type for the editor to later strip together the pages of the newspaper. I remember Bert Scent taking me down the very, very narrow spiral staircase that led from the newsroom to the darkroom downstairs (It’s still there, by the way - the staircase, not the darkroom). Bert showed me how he “shot” the pictures and pages of the paper before it got sent off to the printers. He showed me how plates were made that were used to print “The Evangel,” the weekly bulletin of First Baptist Church that went out to many in the community, including myself, and a lot of others that didn’t even attend FBC. “The Evangel” served as church bulletin inspiration for me for many years after. That was in 1993 and 1994. Nine years later, I found myself responding to an ad in the classifieds for a Graphic Designer, as Suzanne left to work for a local attorney.
I submitted my resume right away. I had maintained doing freelance graphic design over the years, but I never get my hopes up about anything. I am an eternal pessimist. But, I got the call to come in and interview with both Bob Wilson, who owned the Advocate, and with Melissa Newman, who served as General Manager of the newspaper at the time. My 3 p.m. interview with Bob lasted nearly two hours, and he sent me upstairs to see Melissa, who was packing up to leave for the day. I recall her telling me that it was “a good sign” that Bob talked to me that long. Bob and I share one trait above all - we’re introverts. But, it did go well, and so did my meeting, albeit much briefer, with Melissa. I was hired on October 3, 2003 and started the following Monday, October 6. It was also the week of the Daniel Boone Festival. I started a job in the middle of town during the most hectic time of the year for downtown (at the time, anyway). The rest, as they say, is history.
Over the years I worked my way through the ranks. I always maintained responsibilities as a graphic designer, but I was given duties in circulation and subscriptions, and eventually the title of Advertising Manager, which I held until J.T. Hurst was named our new publisher in 2006. J.T. was a veteran of both the military and the media. He came in and made a lot of changes, but he was great to work with. In fact, he kept me around when I was ready to jump ship to the Corbin Times-Tribune. I am thankful he went to bat for me and I stayed.
On October 31, 2008, Bob called me to have everyone gather in our small lobby upstairs. He bounded up the steps with another gentleman behind him. “Here’s your new boss,” Bob said, referring to Jay Nolan. Working in a newspaper, not much gets by us. We knew something was up, and my inkling was proven true that day. So, since October 31, 2008, I have worked for Jay Nolan and Nolan Group Media.
I was the graphic designer for the newspaper and commercial printing operations for the next eight years, until I applied for the editor position. I served in that role for two years before we shifted gears, and I was demoted back to graphic designer, but this time, also serving in a role helping manage a transition to new websites for our group. It was a tumultuous year for me. I was not in a good place emotionally or mentally. The newspaper was taking hit after hit with some editorial decisions that still haunt me to this day. But, I endured.
In August 2019 I was once again promoted to Editor, and have served in that capacity since. A few months after that, new duties were added, making me a de facto publisher and general manager of the newspaper. In other words, I was the editor but now I was also responsible for advertising… just as the COVID-19 pandemic was about to hit. The pandemic was rough on us regarding advertising. I am thankful to the handful of businesses and organizations that stuck by our side that year and that continue to do so.
Today, I also find myself as Vice President of the Kentucky Press Association, which is a great honor. I can only ever hope to do Kentucky’s newspapers right and represent them well.
There is a shifting wind in the advertising aspects of our newspaper. In recent weeks, I have witnessed not one, but two, advertising customers begin to call advertising a “donation.” We are not a nonprofit business, and we don’t take donations. Sometimes I do wish we were a nonprofit, as it would open us up to grants to fund expanding our reporting staff so we can do a better job of covering our government in greater detail without the shackles of small town politics and advertising worries. But, alas, we are not.
The attacks on the First Amendment in our nation is just one of many ills plaguing our beautiful country. But, I will say it’s taking a toll on me. It would be easy for me to lose the zeal I have for the job knowing so many people would rather see you go without work and starve. I’ll never understand those elements of the community who’d rather see a 121-year-old institution and its dedicated employees suffer. However, the days I am thankful for what I do outnumber the days of discouragement, no matter how hard people work against us.
If you are a subscriber, a casual reader or an advertiser, or all of those things - thank you. Thank you for supporting us and putting food on the tables for our families. Thank you for continuing to believe in the true work of community journalism.
I love what I do, and I love my community. While I am sort of institutionalized at this point and have no clue what I’d do outside of working here, I am thankful for the time I have behind me. Twenty-two years is nothing to sneeze at. What does my future hold? I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s time for me to step away from the commitments of weekly ramblings and editorializing. Too many people confuse editorials and news these days, and with the attacks on the (currently) free press, it’s best that I step away from this page and stick to writing the news. I encourage our readers to continue submitting letters to the editor… I’ll gladly print those as long as they fall within our guidelines. You can submit a letter through our website, by mail or by e-mail. Be sure to include your legal name, address and phone number. We do not print addresses and phone numbers, these are simply for verification purposes only if we need to contact you.
For all the people who take time to write me and stop by to see me to compliment my columns or our work, thank you. Your kindness will forever be remembered.
Until then, “The Publisher’s Notebook” is signing off. Be kind to one another.
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