The recent success enjoyed by this paper from the Georgia Press Association is the result of a combination of things.
First, it takes a lot of hard work and long hours on behalf of everyone at the paper. A newspaper is not recognized as a “General Excellence” publication without a strong team effort and that’s what we have here each week.
It’s not about one person. It’s about a group working together toward a common, although somewhat simple goal when you boil it down: to be the best newspaper of our size in the state. After just two years of competing we seem to be traveling down the right road to arrive at that goal although we all know there is plenty of hard work still in front of us.
Almost our entire staff has been in place since our first edition in the fall of 2008. It’s something unheard of in this business to be honest. I’ve mentioned before but it’s worth mentioning again: the hours are long, the pay not so great and rewards you take from this business are often personal.
Susan Norman is our lead investigative reporter who covers several hard news beats. She unearths facts like a gravedigger and it’s always fun to hear the latest scoop she has discovered. Her in-depth reporting helps set us apart each week.
Lorin Sinn-Clark and I worked together many moons ago at another paper based in Barrow County and we have teamed up again at the Journal. Lorin can handle pretty much any task newspaper-wise, but she has helped us increase our feature story content. She submits so much information each week for the paper that it’s often difficult to squeeze everything in. Of course, having too much good information is better than the opposite. Her photographs also help set us apart as I’ve always believed strong photos make a newspaper.
Susan Mobley and Susan Treadwell are our Barrow County information source. While most of our staff lives in the county, no one has been here longer than the two of them.
Susan Mobley, while technically our office manager, wears so many more hats than that. She has surprised even herself I think with how much she has taken on since our paper started. She also has the tough, if not impossible, task of keeping the writer of this column in line and headed in the right direction each week. Believe me, that’s her toughest job.
Susan Treadwell knows pretty much everyone in Barrow and that insight helps her as our advertising director. We wouldn’t be where we are without her.
Jessica Brown’s photographs speak for themselves as do the awards she’s won, despite being only 18.
Shelli Bond Pabis, Helen Arnold and Randy Blalock have been columnists for our paper since the beginning. All three are local residents. Each has developed a following for their writing each week and our paper is clearly better because of their contributions.
Blair Spiva Rivkin is a free-lance reporter who has helped us tremendously with her feature stories and for having the ability to share the positive things that happen here.
Katie Cofer is the newest member of our team but her enthusiasm for the job has even had an influence on this ever-aging editor. She has endless energy that is a must for this profession.
Co-publisher Mike Buffington handles our editorials and few, if any, papers of our size in the state have the courage to speak out on the issues the way he does. It’s no surprise we have won awards in this area.
As I said, it’s a team effort that has helped make us be successful. It wouldn’t be possible without everybody working together as one.
Chris Bridges is editor of the Barrow Journal. You can reach him at cbridges@barrowjournal.com.
