RISON - While the exact date the Cleveland County Herald started in 1888 in not known, former publisher Stan Sadler said it did start sometime in November, which means the newspaper is entering its 136th year.
Readers can keep track with how old the newspaper is by checking out the year listed beneath the masthead on the front page. At the opposite side of masthead is the issue number - last week was Issue 1 of the 136th year while this week is Issue 2.
Since the Herald turned another page in its long tenure, the Free Range Conversations podcast this week takes a look back at the history of the newspaper and what the future may hold for it.
Joining Herald publisher Britt Talent, circulation manager/graphic designer Douglas Boultinghouse and “man about town” Roy Phillips on this week’s podcast is former publisher Stan Sadler.
The Sadler family was involved with the newspaper for about 80 years, beginning when Guy Mack Sadler and Harold Davis Sadler bought it in 1923 from Calvin Alpheus Stanfield, the son of former publishers William Joseph (Billie) Stanfield, and Sallie Robinson-Stanfield-Riley.
Stan discussed some of the hardships his grandfather (Guy Sadler), and father (William “Bill” Sadler) had in running the newspaper, especially during the Great Depression. He recalls stories of how people in the county would pay for advertising or subscription with eggs or chickens rather than money during those days.
Stan took over the paper from his father and ran it for several more years until selling it to Talent in 2002. Though he sold the paper, he still contributes weekly through reporting on the Rison Wildcats, and continuing the popular “Other Days” page featured on page six of every issue.
“I hope that if I can get me a few more years in,” Stan said, “That would be 100 years that a Sadler has been involved in the paper.”
Looking back over the time his family ran the paper, and especially the past 50 years he’s been involved, Stan joked that there used to be a lot more going on to cover in the paper during the early days.
According to Stan, back in the day there was not much travel for people to go out of town.
“If it was going to happen, it was going to happen right here,” he said.
As time has passed, the topics covered in the paper are not the only things that have changed.
During the podcast, the four discuss the ways printing the paper have progressed. In the early days, each line of type was set on a Linotype machine.
Broken down by the Library of Congress, a linotype operator would type out the letters and spaces creating a mold of each letter. Once one line was completed, the machine would pour liquid metal into the mold and cast brand new type that was all connected in a line. Plates were then created for the press of the entire page.
Over time, this process changed with the invention of desktop publishing software. Portions of the paper could be completed and printed out, then pieced together on large pages held together by wax. Pages would then be turned to negatives and burned onto plates for the press at the Fordyce News Advocate.
This process was still happening when Douglas joined the staff in 2006.
“It was sort of like putting a puzzle together,” he said. “And seeing how that grew to creating the entire pages on the computer, and printing them out in two halves to piece together, it really sped things up.”
At the current state, the entire paper is designed digitally and sent electronically to a press at the Advance Monticellonian to be printed.
With the digital growth, the Herald is finding new ways to reach people.
“The newspaper business is definitely in transition,” said Britt.
It started with the launch of www.clevelandcountyherald.com back in the mid-2000s and has gradually grown.
With new avenues like the digital eHerald to deliver the paper electronically to subscribers, and the launch of the podcast, Britt is looking at ways to keep the Herald going much longer, even if the press stops printing one day.
To this day, the Herald is the oldest business in Cleveland County, and still going.
In fact, Britt and Douglas revealed in the podcast episode that a newly redesigned version of the paper will be launching in 2025.
“It’ll still be the same old Herald, but it will look a little different,” Britt said.
During the episode, Stan and Roy recall the times when the Herald would host election watch parties on Main Street. They also discuss with Britt the many “country correspondents” who have contributed to the paper over the decades.
Other memories are shared including the time long-time employee, the late-Shannon Ingram, forewarned that one day the press would break and they would have to figure out what to do.
Douglas said with a laugh, “It broke the week we printed her obituary in the paper.”
The full episode of the podcast is streaming now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and www.clevelandcountyherald.com