Founded in 2006, The Villager strives to cover all things Auburn. Four staffers put together the paper while preserving AU tradition and continuing to report news residents have cared about for years.

Meet The Team

Allison Blankenship

Allison became an associate editor in October 2013. An Athens, Alabama native, she received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Auburn University.

Brian Woodham

Brian became an associate editor in February 2014. From Montgomery, he spent two years working at The Montgomery Advertiser after graduating from Auburn.

Jim Buford

Jim helps with editing the paper. He serves on the Alabama Writers' Forum Board of Directors as well.

Lance Radermacher

Lance has been the advertising director for The Villager since July 2015. With more than 15 years in the graphic and print industry, he graduated in economics from Texas A&M.

Get to know some of the 'Villagers'

At The Auburn Villager two associate editors are crucial to the running of the

newspaper. Allison Blankenship, 29 and Brian Woodham, 39, have been working together for three years.

Blankenship started her career in the feature world by writing for a freelance magazine.

Woodham started at the Montgomery Advertiser as a copyeditor before he moved to Auburn in 2011.

Woodham has lived in Auburn since 1995 and experienced the university as a student.

“I earned two degrees from Auburn. One degree was in English literature and the other was in journalism,” Woodham says.

Blankenship also earned her degree in journalism at Auburn University.

Both take pride in their work, and both are proud of recognition from the Alabama Press Association’s annual contest. Both have won awards for individual stories they submitted for the Division D category.

Auburn Villager editors take pride in their work

Blakenship is most proud of stories she wrote about a local family whose son was diagnosed with a fatal disease.

She said, “The family was raising awareness about the disease and working with Auburn University to develop a treatment. Sadly, their son passed away. It was rewarding to share this story because it meant so much to so many.”

Woodham is most proud of a seven-part series he did on zoning and planning in Auburn.

“This series won recognition in the APA’s Best Public Service category. It also won the Outstanding Media Coverage Award from the Alabama Chapter of the American Planning

Association,” Woodham says.

“The zoning and planning story mattered to me because of how it broke down very complex information into something digestible by our readers."

It informed them of the workings of their community and empowered them to take part in the formation of the future of Auburn,” Woodham says.

Blakenship says she is also proud of a story she wrote about the Toomer’s Oak clones Auburn University was growing to sell to members of the Auburn family.

“That was really popular and gained a lot of traction online. People loved the idea of the oaks living on through their clones. It won first place for best news feature story,” Blankenship says.

Both of these community journalists credit others for inspiring them to pursue their

careers. “The person that influenced me the most was Jenni Laidman.

She was an editor at the freelance magazine that I worked for,” Blankenship says. Woodham says Rick Harmon, news editor of the Montgomery Advertiser, was a great mentor who he stills stays in contact with.

Blankenship and Woodham advise to future community journalism students to be persistent, curious and accurate. Blakenship suggests that forming relationships with people in the community is vital.

“Try to think about the people that you are writing for, trust in your sources and always fact check your work,” Woodham adds.

Looking back

&

Moving foward

The Auburn Villager is a community newspaper founded by Charles Whatley and Don Eddins in 2006. Today, a staff of four puts out the weekly paper. Brian Woodham and Allison Blankenship are associate editors, Jim Buford helps out with editing, and Lance Radermacher is the advertising director.

“The founders also were staff writers for the newspaper and wrote the very first issue of The Auburn Villager. We have it framed in our office,” Blankenship says.

The office of the relatively new community newspaper proudly displays Alabama Press Association awards. “We are a Division D community newspaper.

We also win some individual awards as well for stories and content,” Woodham says.

Blakenship says they plan to submit more work for award consideration next year. “ We hope to win in January, so we can add to our cubicle wall of awards.”

Auburn Villager publisher Eddins, a local attorney, regularly takes time out of his day to journey to check on the newspaper and the staff.

“He helps the staff by coming up with the budget, helping with story ideas and pages. He also oversees the advertising director on advertisements and sponsorships,” Woodham says.

Eddins says, “When the Opelika Auburn News brought the old Auburn Bulletin and closed it, I felt there was a void in the coverage of news that was strictly Auburn based.”

As the associate editors, Woodham and Blankenship stay busy throughout the week.

“Since our staff is small, we don’t have enough time to cover things that are already covered, let alone the things that we want to cover more, such as crime,” Woodham says.

While covering events, the newspaper staff makes sure they stay localized to Auburn.

“The readers want us to stick to local things, even if they move away. The people still want good local coverage from Auburn,” Woodham says.

“We are proud of the way that our readers are satisfied about how we cover things and how detailed the stories are that we cover,” Blankenship adds.

Working for a community newspaper offers positives and negatives that concern the staff when they put together the paper.

“The negatives of working for a community newspaper are that there isn’t enough time to cover things. The other issue is that, with a small staff, most coverage is limited,” Woodham says.

Blankenship adds, “The positives are that the staff has the opportunity to develop stories. They also get to pick certain stories that are newsworthy and

interesting,” Blankenship says.

The Auburn Villager, the associate editors say, is always concerned about circulation and their readers.

“The circulation of the newspaper, is about 3, 500 to 4,000 people and that is determined by the subscriptions of the print and online edition. We hope to grow in circulation in the years to come,” Woodham says. “We have trouble with the younger generations because they get their news online.”

Blankenship suggested that the paper is looking to attract younger readers. “We also want to improve and market ourselves to a younger generation and produce good content for every

demographic.”

Social media, both say, provides a way for the newspaper to engage with the community.

“We use Facebook and Twitter but we do not use Instagram or Snapchat yet. We do use videos.

We would also like to have a message board to stay connected with our readers,” Woodham says.

Blakenship says the weekly is always looking for opportunities to be more involved in the community.

“We want to become more involved in the community. For example, we would want to get a booth for any upcoming event. We would also like to do more online polls.”

The Auburn Villager has staff meetings on Wednesdays. Space is available for interns who usually come to the paper from Auburn University’s journalism program.

Sometimes, interns are allowed to start their own series of news stories. Recently, an intern did an in-depth series about a local golf tournament.

“The interns who work in our office do lighten the workload for us. They work on online content like tweeting, producing stories for the print edition and the front page. Our staff oversees them and helps them every step of the way,” Woodham says.

Publisher Don Eddins says he hopes that the newspaper can continue to improve.

“I wish we had another reporter or two, but the staff size depends on advertising growth. Another reporter would allow us to cover more stories in-depth. I feel that we do a good job with The Villager utilizing the resources that we have.”

From football to yoga

For the staff at the Auburn Villager, a press conference held by Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn is a high priority event. I was able to shadow Brian Woodham, associate editor, when he covered a press conference with Coach Malzahn before the Mississippi State vs. Auburn football game this fall.

Held at the Auburn Athletic Complex on campus, the conference attracted reporters from across the state, including some student reporters from The Auburn Plainsman. “When attending a conference like this, there is a race to have your recorder placed on the podium first,“ Woodham says.

Cameras and computers were scattered across the conference room. When Coach

Malzahn arrived, he discussed the health of players and some of the tactics the team hoped to use in the upcoming game.

After Malzahn spoke, a football player also came out and spoke about strategy and his hopes for the game.

That afternoon, I shadowed associate editor Allison Blakenship who was meeting with

the director of Auburn Parks and Recreation, Rebecca Richardson. I was able to observe the interviewing process. We also talked to Ann Bergman of Parks and Recreation. She teaches yoga for senior citizens.

From this one day, I could see the variety of events and activities the Auburn Villager

strives to cover, from football to yoga.