They tell you when you start teaching school that you may get some downtime in the summer.
I just finished my fifth year of teaching journalism at Tarleton State University, and while I’ve loved every minute of it, I have yet to find any downtime.
But maybe some of that is self-imposed.
Three years ago, when my old boss asked if we wanted to buy a newspaper, we could not say no.
So, I have plenty of journalism work to keep me busy when I am away from the university.
Another such opportunity came about a few weeks ago when the owner of the Whitewright Sun called and asked if we would like to take over her newspaper.
Sarah Beth Owen has been publisher of the Sun since 2019, and she’s ready to step back.
Before Sara, an old friend of mine named Roger Palmer published the Sun.
Roger passed away too young in 2018.
I was honored that Sara considered us to take over that legacy.
As you read on page one, we have pulled off a merger, and I cannot be more excited.
Our newsroom here in Western Grayson County is branching out to Eastern Grayson County with a long-term goal of reaching the other communities in between.
This is a natural step and, again, we are thrilled to grow our business.
So, what does this mean for you?
We have merged the circulation list of the Whitesboro News-Record and the Whitewright Sun under the masthead titled, the News-Record.
In addition to covering the US 377 corridor in Western Grayson County, we’re leaning in to cover communities along the US 69 corridor in the eastern part of the county.
That news coverage will be extended to Whitewright, Bells and Tom Bean.
Like I said, we have combined the two-circulation list, so there are some of you reading this who have never received a Whitewright newspaper.
And there are those among you who have never read a Whitesboro newspaper.
Welcome and hello!
Our advertising rates will remain the same so our business partners, suddenly, have an exponentially larger audience to market to at no additional cost.
We have dedicated staff resources to making sure the news is covered.
This also means, at the end of August, you will receive a comprehensive high school football preview (that our Whitesboro readers have grown accustomed to) that will include every school in Grayson County.
East side readers will enjoy a busy special section calendar they are not accustomed to.
Our sports coverage during the school year will be extended to Bells, Whitewright and Tom Bean.
This will be fun because each of those schools are in a district with one of the schools on the west side of the county.
I foresee some West Side vs. East Side rivalry fun— and all that.
It means those three city halls will be covered better than they have been in a long time as well as those school districts.
It means we are growing our community and attempting to bring folks together in Grayson County, the place we call home.
We have so much to learn from one another, common goals and common struggles. Bridging these communities will be fruitful.
The only change in service is that now Whitewright subscribers will get their paper on Friday instead of Thursday.
We apologize for the inconvenience.
All of this comes at a time of bad press for the community press.
The headlines would have you believe that community journalism is dead and newspapers no longer exist.
Those headlines are wrong, and I’ve spent the past five years of my career at the university (and 15 years prior to that in the industry) countering that narrative.
I intend to spend at least the next 30 years of my professional life doing just the same.
The Lewter family has been in Grayson County since the Civil War.
Our children are seventh generation Grayson County natives.
This is a place we love, where we live and a place we are honored to serve.
We appreciate you coming on this journey with us.
We have a great staff to serve you.
Jessica Edwards is a talented editor. She is excited to expand our news mission.
Sherrie Nelson is an energetic marketing director, passionate about helping people grow their businesses.
While most folks know me as a, now, veteran newspaper man, all credit must be given to another amazing newspaper professional in our office.
My wife, Jennifer, has become, in just the past three years that we have owned the News-Record, one of the best newspaper managers in the business.
She keeps us on track, and we could not do this without her.
We also have great contributors here.
Former Herald-Democrat editor, Jerrie Whiteley is among them; along with veteran sports reporter, Jason Chalpek; talented sports photographer, Jenna Howard; and some of the most amazing young writers I know, including Mikayla Reed, Caroline Crane, and Gavin Patrick.
We could not do this work without them, but we are always looking for more contributors. If you are a shutterbug in your community, please let us know. We’d love to partner to publish your work.
If you are an aspiring writer, we want to hear from you.
Give me a call at 903-564-3565 or email [email protected].
The News-Record is the oldest newspaper in the county, the only family-owned newspaper in the county and the last traditional broadsheet left in the county.
Again, none of that is lost on us and we aren’t going anywhere.
Thank you for coming along with us. Thank you for your readership and thank you for loving Grayson County as much as we do.
And the future is bright. Thank you for being a part of that future.