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Mountain Valley News Editor Says Positive Approach Works
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In the small town of Rainsville, Alabama, at a small newspaper called Mountain Valley News, it’s not about negativity and controversy. It’s about positivity. It’s about feel-good stories about local people, and that’s the way owner and publisher Teresa Ledbetter likes it.
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Mountain Valley News is owned by Teresa Ledbetter and her husband Nathaniel. Nathaniel Ledbetter is a member of the Alabama House of Representatives, representing District 24. Teresa Ledbetter, prior to owning Mountain Valley News, worked for the local Board of Education in Rainsville. The Ledbetters purchased the newspaper, previously the DeKalb Advertiser, on Oct. 26, 2011.
Owner and Editor Teresa Ledbetter
Explaining why she decided to buy the paper, Ledbetter said, “I had a major medical issue come up that forced me to quit what I was doing, and I was bored at home.” Ledbetter saw what was then the DeKalb Advertiser as “more than just a local newspaper.” She saw it as a business she could “make better.”
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In the five years that the Ledbetters have owned the newspaper, it has seen steady growth. “The subscription base had dropped tremendously when we bought the paper, and we have been able to climb back up the ladder,” Teresa said.
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Ledbetter attributes the paper’s success to their philosophy when it comes to running the paper, which is to always keep it positive.
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“We try to stay positive when it comes to the stories we print,” Teresa said. “We don’t run people down, and if a negative event takes place in the community, we don’t cover it. I won’t put a mugshot on my newspaper,” Teresa added. “That person could have family living here. They could have children living here.”
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Explaining why Mountain Valley News tries to stay so upbeat, Teresa said, “There are other newspapers that take care of printing negative articles and running people down.” She added, “Since we aren’t financially dependent on the newspaper, we run it the way we want to, and that is to keep it positive.”
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Ledbetter said that one of the driving factors behind her newspaper’s theme of positivity is the size of the community. “I go to church with these people. I have to see these people in the grocery store.”
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Ledbetter said, “People love the positive stories. It’s what keeps us afloat here. No negativity.”
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Describing her favorite part about owning a newspaper, Ledbetter said, “Every day is different. Every story is different.”
Mountain Valley News Diversifies to Thrive
Many things make DeKalb County, Alabama, a great place to live. One of those things is the Mountain Valley News. Formerly the DeKalb Advertiser, the newspaper was purchased by Teresa Ledbetter and her husband Nathaniel on Oct. 26, 2011, and has been going strong ever since.
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Mountain Valley News http://www.mountainvalleynewspaper.com/ is published in Rainsville and covers both DeKalb and Jackson County with a readership of about 4,200 people. The Ledbetters also publish a magazine called Mountain Valley Living and a magazine devoted to local high school football teams, the Mountain Valley News Football Preview.
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But they don’t stop there. Along with the newspaper and the magazines, they also produce a show called Pigskin Preview. The show is hosted by Arlan Blevins, the general manager of the newspaper, and Logan Wright, a sports writer and photographer for the paper. The show focuses on high school football teams in the surrounding area and continues to grow in popularity. Mountain Valley News also produces several online shows focusing on local politics. Between the newspaper, the magazines, and the shows, Mountain Valley News reaches thousands of readers and viewers in DeKalb and Jackson County.
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The Mountain Valley News staff consists of eight people who work day to day on the paper. Teresa and Nathaniel Ledbetter own the paper, Arlan Blevins is the general manager, Bonita Wilborn is the feature writer, Lauren Dewitt creates graphics and layout, Patsy Overby handles advertisements and legals, and sports writing/photography is done by Logan Wright and Jordan Wilks.
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Because the Mountain Valley News staff is so small, everyone must work hard each week to ensure that the paper meets their standards. “We are a family-run newspaper,” explained Teresa. “We are running around like crazy during the week to make sure we finish what needs to be finished.”
Bonita Wilborn and Lauren Dewitt handle most of the layout work on Monday. “I enjoy doing the layout for the paper,” said Wilborn. “Organizing the paper is fun for me.”
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The paper goes to press on Tuesday and all the papers are hand-labeled for mailing on Wednesday. “People don’t realize how much work goes on behind the scenes,” explained Teresa. “We hand-label every newspaper by hand, and we fill the newspaper stands ourselves.” Subscribers then receive their paper on Thursday.
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The design of the newspaper itself is both modern and classic at the same time. The paper runs color and is usually 8-12 pages depending on the number of stories for that week. The paper contains sections for Lifestyles, Obituaries, Legals/Classifieds, Sports, and various other things depending on stories for that week.
The Pigskin Preview Plugs into Football Fever
People living in American small towns are often some of the most passionate people on Earth. They care deeply about their communities and the people living in them. In Alabama, however, there is one thing that seems to take precedence over everything else: high school football.
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As a former DeKalb County high school football player, I know this to be true, and it is something that the Mountain Valley News in Rainsville clearly knows as well. However, unlike community weekly newspapers that only publish stories about local sports, the Mountain Valley News produces their own “Pigskin Preview Show,” which airs every week during football season on http://www.mountainvalleynewspaper.com/.
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I had the opportunity to travel back to my hometown of Rainsville to visit the studio. During my time there I got a behind the scenes look at what goes into producing this show.
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Arlan Blevins, the general manager of the paper, explained the motivation and idea of creating the football show. He said, “About three years ago, our first high school football magazine came out, and we were talking about other things we could do. We thought doing a show every week and tying it into our newspaper picks would be a good idea.”
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It obviously was a good idea because it has been going strong for three years now. Blevins said, “The response has been great. People seem to love the show, and we have seen it grow tremendously over the last three years.”
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Blevins said he personally loves doing the show. “I’ve always been a football nut, and this is a fun way for me to not only talk about football but also stay connected to the community.”
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He explained what goes into the production of the “Pigskin Preview Show.” “It’s not complicated, but it kind of is complicated,” Blevins said. “Jordan Wilks, one of our sports writers, comes in and films the show. We then send the raw footage to a guy at Farmers TV, who adds in our green screen effects.” Farmers TV is a local cable access station owned by Farmers Telephone Cooperative in Rainsville.
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Mountain Valley News also produces a live show on Friday night following the football games. “For this show we have three different computers running that all do different things,” Blevins said. “One computer does advertisement placement, one records the show and the other adds in various effects and cut-ins.”
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Arlan Blevins and Logan Wright host the “Pigskin Preview Show”. Logan, who played football at Plainview High School, is currently a sports writer and photographer for the paper. Blevins said, “We have seen the viewership of the show grow substantially over the last few years, and hopefully it will continue to grow. Someone at Farmers TV told me recently that our show is currently watched more than any other local show.”
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Wright added, “We have had a great response. We started out with around 30 viewers, and by our last show we had 600.”
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Jeff Helton, a former DeKalb County football player, said, “The show is a great way to keep up with what the local teams are doing.” Joey Markowski, who also played football in DeKalb County, said, “I enjoy hearing how my school is doing from my former teammate, Logan Wright, while I’m away at college.”
Explaining why he loves co-hosting the show, Wright said, “It has been a great experience. It has allowed me to make new friendships with both players and coaches.” He added, “I have enjoyed being able to go behind the scenes so to speak. When you’re on the sidelines, or having head coaches call in, you see and hear a lot of things that you normally wouldn’t.”
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Blevins said he loves seeing the community response. “When I’m out in public, occasionally people will rag me about my football picks, but it’s all in good fun. People seem to really enjoy the show.”