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Pickens County Herald

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Pickens County Herald
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Mid-South Newspapers Inc.
EditorGena Huff
Founded1904
Headquarters215 Reform St, Carrollton, Pickens County, AL 35447
Circulation4,000 [1]
OCLC number15344667
Websitepcherald.com

The Pickens County Herald is a newspaper serving Carrollton, Alabama.[1] It is published once a week on Wednesday, with a circulation of just under 4,000.[1] The current editor is Gena Huff, who took the helm in 2018, succeeding previous editor Bo Black.[2]

History

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It was established as a Democratic paper in 1904 by Bert Smith and Marion Johnson, formerly of the Columbus Dispatch,[3][4] and relaunched in 1913 under editor Ben I. Rapport,[5] publishing on Tuesdays and Fridays.[6] In 1914, Rapport was able to recapitalize the paper, bringing in $10,000 of investment and significantly expanding it.[7] The investment allowed the purchase new linotype machines, and was accompanied by a move from Reform, Alabama to Carrollton, where the paper still currently resides.[7]

Rapport was one of a number of Alabama newspaper editors to oppose the Ku Klux Klan, saying "I do not even care to make any mention of this worthless organization, thereby giving them publicity."[8]

For about 40 years, the paper was edited by John ("Jack") Pratt of Carrollton, who was also vice president of the Alabama Press Association for part of that time.[9]

From 1963 to 1986 the Herald was owned and edited by Euteal vann Junkin,[10] a lifelong resident of the county, U.S. Army veteran, and owner of Herald Printing for 44 years.[11]

In a 2001 interview on the importance of local weekly papers, then-editor Doug Sanders emphasized the value of "keeping an eye on local officials."[12]

The Tuscaloosa News, which reported on the Herald's founding and later financing, has continued to cite the Herald for local news reports as recently as 2018.[13]

In 2018, an editorial in the Daily Mountain Eagle identified the Herald, along with itself, the Journal Record, and the Time-Record, as the key news organizations in the area Bevill State Community College serves.[14]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Pickens County Herald newspaper". MondoTimes.com.
  2. ^ "About". Pickens County Herald.
  3. ^ "Items". The Tuscaloosa News. 21 September 1904.
  4. ^ "Local and Otherwise". The Lamar Democrat. 31 August 1904.
  5. ^ O.S.R. Separate No. 1-. Alabama State Department of Archives and History. 1915.
  6. ^ Ayer Directory, Newspapers, Magazines and Trade Publications. 1916.
  7. ^ a b "Pickens County Herald Capitalized at $10,000". The Tuscaloosa News. 25 January 1914.
  8. ^ "What Alabama's Leading Weekly Newspaper Editors Think of the Ku Klux Klan". The Onlooker. 17 November 1921.
  9. ^ "Third Press Institute Will Get Underway At Auburn This Week". The Anniston Star. 9 August 1931.
  10. ^ "Euteal vann junkin". The Tuscaloosa News. 14 February 2017. ProQuest 379234099.
  11. ^ "Obituaries". The Commercial Dispatch. February 14, 2007.
  12. ^ "WEEKLY PAPERS AN INTEGRAL PART OF RURAL LIFE - ALABAMA HAS THREE TIMES MORE WEEKLIES THAN DAILY NEWSPAPERS". Columbus Ledger-Enquirer. Associated Press. July 16, 2001.
  13. ^ "Dwindling enrollment causes concern".
  14. ^ "Try, try again". Daily Mountain Eagle. May 20, 2018.