Randolph Leader | jrnl4970

John Stevenson: Adventurer turned newspaperman

By Abby Parker

From serving in the military to living abroad in Bolivia, John Stevenson has seen it all. But despite these great adventures, he still calls Roanoke, Alabama, home. This is where he is continuing a family tradition as editor and publisher of The Randolph Leader.

Despite his lifetime history with the paper, Stevenson did not always plan to work there. He graduated from Auburn with a business degree, not a journalism degree. However, after school, the plan for his life took an unexpected change.

“Upon graduation, I won the only thing I’ve ever won in my life, which was the 1970 draft lottery,” Stevenson said.

During his time in the U.S. Army, Stevenson earned his MBA from Pepperdine University. He remained on active duty for six years until he left in search of a corporate job.

John Stevenson, editor and publisher of The Randolph Leader

His job search led him to living in Bolivia after hearing a missionary couple speak about their move there and need for certain skills. Stevenson and his then wife possessed these skills and decided to move to Bolivia too, where they lived for three months.

In early 1978, Stevenson’s uncle who was in charge of The Leader passed away, so he moved home to help and never left.

Throughout the last 38 years, he has been working with the paper in multiple aspects.

“What I really enjoy about the job is the unpredictability,” Stevenson said. “No two days are alike as editor and publisher.”

He described the role of editor as a more routine job, but publisher as more erratic with random jobs emerging depending on the week.

Stevenson’s duties range from helping with graphic design and the layout of the paper to helping sell advertisements.

Stevenson spends the week when not publishing the paper, catching up on planning and bills. He also works on editing copy throughout the week. Some weeks they will have copy saved to use, but reporters go out to get stories on a regular basis.

This variability in his job is a typical aspect of any job at a community paper and an opportunity you will not have at larger papers, according to Stevenson.

“You think you want to work for the New York Times, but you will be so pigeon-holed covering a specific beat that you will never learn the ins and outs,” Stevenson said. “Work for a community newspaper and you have a more impressive résumé later on.”

While working at the paper can be filled with surprises and random tasks, the paper itself is not. Stevenson described it as “the one constant” in the town.

“We have the reputation that The Leader will have the facts,” Stevenson said about the paper’s role in dispelling rumors within the town.

The credibility of the paper may have to do with the fact that Stevenson’s family has owned The Leader since its creation in 1892.

Stevenson remarked that he was unsure of the future of the paper. With no direct relatives to take over, the current sport’s editor, who married a niece of Stevenson’s, may be next in line.

Stevenson’s son, J.B., died at the age of 17 in a car crash. Stevenson was unaware of whether his son would want to continue in the family business. However, after J.B.’s death, his friends informed Stevenson of his desire to continue in his father’s footsteps.

Now, the J.B. Stevenson Scholarship is awarded to the most promising high school journalist in the state of Alabama in honor of Stevenson’s son.

Following his son’s death, Stevenson and his wife divorced after struggling to cope with the tragedy.

Despite these hardships, Stevenson said he is now the happiest he has ever been. He has since remarried to Jennifer Chandler Stevenson, a former Olympic diver.

He and Jennifer spend their time commuting between Roanoke and Birmingham, where Jennifer lives during the week.

When visiting Jennifer, Stevenson rescued a random cat that hopped in his car. This cat, with a tiny body and giant, pumpkin-shaped head, replaced the original Roanoke cat, Percy.

It’s not uncommon to see cats roaming the offices of The Leader. While Percy has since passed away, Stevenson now has two cats that call the office home.

“Once I bring something in, I can’t turn it away,” Stevenson said. And this commitment and dedication is evidenced through his last 38 years spent working at The Leader.

Family-owned newspaper, Roanoke remain optimistic

By Abby Parker

The term community journalism brings small towns like Roanoke, Alabama, and their newspaper, The Randolph Leader, to mind.

Flipping through the pages of The Leader, you will see evidence of what makes Randolph County and its citizens so different than other communities.

Local news, wedding announcements, a county calendar, pet adoptions and even a free lost and found service scatter the pages of the paper. Pictures in color pop out at readers hoping to see themselves on one of the pages.

But in an age where news is at the tip of our fingers via cellphones and other portable devices, how does a paper so small stay so successful? This is a question that The Leader’s editor and publisher, John Stevenson, has been contemplating for quite some time now.

The Leader has remained in the Stevenson family since its creation in 1892, and John Stevenson has worked there since early 1978.

Along with Stevenson, The Leader employs six other people. These employees include Vanessa Sorrell Burnside, news editor, feature writer and news reporter; Penny Pool, columnist, feature writer and news reporter; Tim Altork, sports editor, feature writer and news reporter; Ricky Sledge, advertising account advisor; Danielle Tooker, office manager; and Rodney Wright, in charge of circulation and distribution. It’s this type of consistency and dedication that has allowed the paper to thrive like it has, according to Stevenson.

The Leader is currently the only paper in the area with a circulation of about 7,000, making it the main source of local news for citizens of Randolph County.

Stevenson described The Leader as a sort of niche publication because if they don’t report on their local news, no one else will.

“As a general rule, our coverage stops at the county line,” Stevenson said. “We are a Randolph County paper, and we want to provide Randolph County news.”

Despite their dedicated readers in the town, they still experience some struggles, most recently with the postal service.

Readers hope to hold their papers as soon as Wednesday, when The Leader goes to print. However, the changes in postal deliveries does not make this possible.

While the paper used to ship from local post offices within the county like Roanoke, Wedowee, Wadley, Woodland, Graham and Five Points, it now must travel all the way to Birmingham before it can return to its readers in these towns.

The paper can sit in Birmingham for about two to three days before it is delivered to its subscribers. This change in the postal service has been frustrating for the Leader because they are in a rural area and cannot use mail carriers, Stevenson said.

This delay in delivery has hurt The Leader. Each month, they see cancellations due to this issue.

While these cancellations are rare, there have been other times when The Leader was threatened by cancelling subscribers.

During the mid 90s, The Leader editorialized and reported on a scandal in the high school regarding racist comments made by the principal about interracial dating at prom.

The Leader’s reporting brought national attention to the issue, bringing in reporters from publications like The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

The county and community did not welcome their presence, according to Stevenson. The tension from this issue caused several people to threaten to cancel their subscriptions. However, only one person and one business ever did, according to Stevenson.

Stevenson and The Leader once conducted a telephone survey to gauge reader’s interest and problems with the paper.

Stevenson said he was disappointed when they did not get any suggestions for change and that people were overall pleased with the paper.

Some surprises did result from this survey regarding who actually reads the paper. The Leader was surprised to learn that people were no more or less likely to read the paper based on their race and age.

The only difference was that older people were more likely to subscribe to the paper, while younger people would just read the paper if available to them.

One way Stevenson attempts to keep his readership so diverse is by covering the towns and their high schools as evenly as possible. The county has four sports teams that The Leader features.

They use their website and social media to continue this even coverage and promote more readership.

Stevenson said that The Leader promotes interaction with its readers through their use of Facebook. If there’s breaking news, The Leader will post it on their website and Facebook, rather than waiting for the next week’s paper.

The Leader also uses these pages to promote involvement among their readers. On their page, they will post pictures and ask people to tag them if they do not know who is in the picture.

“People have taken ownership of the paper,” Stevenson said. “They feel like it’s theirs too.”

This feeling of ownership is evidenced through the town’s contributions to the paper. If reporters of The Leader cannot make it to an event, members of the town will send in pictures for them to use.

Another job the paper has within the county is the role of dispelling rumors and reporting the truth. Stevenson said that they do this through their website.

“We have the reputation that we will have the facts,” Stevenson said. And because of this reputation, the paper updates their website regarding any rumors so that people will know the truth.

In addition to updating their website with breaking news, they post obituaries as soon as they get them, bringing traffic to their website.

The Leader’s use of their website and Facebook, along with their option of an e-edition of the paper, has helped them stay relevant in this digital age.

However, Stevenson said he believes that, despite the move to more digital news, people still want that physical copy in their hands and that community journalism will not be dying anytime soon.

Stevenson described both Roanoke and its paper as “optimistic’ and that he, along with the town, are holding out, hoping for better times ahead.

Roanoke: A town with a big heart

By Abby Parker

Roaming the streets of Roanoke, Alabama, you will find trees lining the picturesque small town. A mural displayed on the side of one of the buildings lining Main Street boasts the slogan, “Roanoke: Small Town with a Big Heart.”

But the heart in Roanoke seems to have been hurting in recent years. Once a thriving town, empty storefronts can be found in the downtown area.

However, this lack of businesses has not stopped the town from trying to revitalize the once booming area.

Editor and publisher of the local paper, John Stevenson, said he believes that a better Roanoke will soon be a possibility.

According to Stevenson, Roanoke has drastically changed since his childhood there. These changes have been most obvious in the last 20 to 30 years.

People used to be able to walk the streets of Roanoke and see at least four departments stores, including a Belk and other locally owned stores, according to Stevenson.

“We used to have two theaters downtown,” Stevenson said. “Now we have none.”

This lack of businesses, however, has not stopped the town from trying to increase interest in the downtown.

Walking down Main Street, you can see freshly planted trees and well-maintained common use areas, hoping to draw visitors in. A local vegetarian restaurant that has recently opened attracts the most customers.

“We’re optimistic that we will eventually see more good things,” Stevenson said about Roanoke’s move to revitalize the area.

He said that the paper attempts to help in this process through their editorials’ on the issue.

Another person intent on helping rejuvenate Roanoke’s local businesses is Dorothy Tidwell, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce.

Tidwell also commented on Roanoke’s optimism. Like Stevenson, she said that Roanoke is enthusiastic about their future.

She described Roanoke as a “giving community that takes a lot of pride in their town.”

However, she said that while this pride has started to become evident in their downtown area, there is still room for improvement.

“Our community is going to have to support these local, ‘mom and pop’ businesses for them to survive,” Tidwell said.

She stated that she has seen increased support for the new businesses opening downtown. These businesses include a hair salon, jewelry store, shoe store and furniture store.

Another way Tidwell and the Chamber of Commerce attempt to attract more tourism and business downtown is through their Summer on Main Festival.

This festival has occurred for the last nine summers and features different events like concerts, a quilt show and a hat parade to bring locals and visitors to downtown Roanoke.

The Chamber of Commerce has worked with the Roanoke Rotary Club to make events like these happen.

Most recently, they worked together to open an open-air theater, and they are currently working on creating a veteran’s memorial downtown.

Despite their creation of these new areas of interest downtown, there are still some spaces that won’t come back.

“There are some buildings that need to come down…they just can’t be saved,” Tidwell said.

Tidwell said that Roanoke will continue to fight for their downtown because at the end of the day, the mural is right: “Roanoke is a town with a lot of heart.”