Feb. 26, 2023, was a turning point in Alabama journalism. Three of the state’s largest newspapers ceased to produce a printed version. Citing a plunging readership base, the Mobile Press-Register, The Birmingham News and The Huntsville Times are no longer in ink.

But while the mighty have fallen, Alabama’s weekly newspapers still gather stories, roll the presses and carry on, page by page on real paper.

“Now, it is important to remember those three big newspapers did not go out of business,” said Alabama Press Association Executive Director Felicia Mason. “They just moved over to the internet. We still have strong daily newspapers, such as the Montgomery Advertiser, the Dothan Eagle, Tuscaloosa News and more.”

But, she added, “Alabama has 109 print newspapers. Of that number, 82 are weekly. Their strength is local news content.” Mason also noted in a recent editorial that, according to research firm Coda Ventures, 81% of Alabama’s adults rely on newspapers for local news and advertising.

The Elba Clipper, Coffee County’s go-to news source since 1897, is one such example. Owner-publisher Ferrin Cox described the resiliency of his 127-year-old publication in a phrase shared by many in the weekly news business: “We print what they don’t.”

He speaks from experience. At age 85, Cox has owned The Clipper for 52 years.

“We cover the local beauty pageants, high school football games, civic clubs, churches and news of Elba and Coffee County,” he said. “We are there at every Elba City Council meeting.”

You won’t see the big news outlets at small-town city hall meetings unless the building is on fire.

Cox recalled the days when cut and paste did not involve a computer. One literally cut news type with a scalpel and pasted it on a copy board until it was “camera ready.”

“Of course, there were no digital cameras back then,” he recalled. “We had a darkroom for developing film. The darkroom was basically a little chemical plant that left you smelling like one.”

New-hire journalists learn the weekly newspaper business on the fly. There are no specialists. Everybody – which can mean more than a dozen or fewer than six – specializes in everything.

David Proctor, editor-publisher of The Clay Times-Journal. (Emmett Burnett / Alabama Living)

“Our staff is cross-trained,” said David Proctor, editor and publisher of The Clay Times-Journal. “Each person wears many hats. That’s how we survive.”

The roots of The Clay Times-Journal, based in Lineville, date back to the 1800s. Charles Lester Proctor owned the paper until his death in 1992. David Proctor is his son.

“The key to success in this business is know your market,” Proctor said. “Clay County is largely rural and farming communities. We cater to it.” But there is more.

Proctor strongly advocates for “boots on the ground” type journalism. “At the Times-Journal, we believe if you are interested in your county, you are interested in what is going on in it. We have a warm body at every meeting – city council, school board, county commission, water and sewer board – everything.”

He acknowledged, “With a small staff it is not always easy to be at every municipal/city meeting, but we must be. They are spending our money. We need to be there and report it.”

Proctor does not speculate in detail why larger papers or online sites do not cover small towns, but suspects it is because of staffing. “I think perhaps they do not have enough people to cover small areas like ours,” he said. “But we do.”

With last February’s print closure of the “big three,” John Few, editor of The Madison Record and Madison County Record, found himself no longer in the shadow of The Huntsville Times. Actually, he never was.

“We are a different animal,” Few said, explaining that comparing big daily papers and online sites to weekly paper counterparts is like equating apples to oranges. “We do the back stories. We delve into the council meetings, the who, what, when, where and why – not five minutes on TV and then it’s gone,” he said.

He adamantly believes small newspapers give local people a voice, a place to be and a sense of community. “When somebody walks in our office holding a prize giant turnip, we run a picture of it.”

Few said there is no better training for young journalists than a weekly newspaper, the smaller the better. “You not only learn every aspect of the news business; you do it.”

Willie Gray, owner and publisher of The Call News in Citronelle with his wife, Rhonda, holds a framed Sept. 14, 1939, edition of the newspaper, which was founded in 1897. (Emmett Burnett / Alabama Living)

About 300 miles south of Madison is The Call News, based in Citronelle since 1897. Its sister paper, the Washington County News, is five years older. Both are owned and published by Willie and Rhonda Gray.

With the Mobile Press-Register no longer a print product, The Call News is Mobile County’s only broadsheet (traditional newspaper page size) news publication. “We never considered the Press-Register as competitors,” Gray said. “They play their game and we do our thing.”

Whatever thing The Call News does, it does it well. Dozens of Alabama Press Association awards, for Best News Story, Best Sports Coverage, Best Human Interest Column, and other editorial and advertising awards adorn the walls.

The Call News believes a personal approach is the key to success in weekly newspapers. “In small papers covering small towns, there’s a good chance you know the people in the story,” Rhonda Gray said. “Our readers know us, too. We attend church together, our children are on the same Little League teams; in many cases, we are neighbors.

“We do not do sensational journalism, but instead print the facts from the source. Politicians and government officials are held accountable, but we are not out to sink them.”

The Grays believe print journalism will always have a place. “Print is more legitimate,” Gray said. “Anybody can produce something online and change the story in minutes. But once your byline is written in ink on paper, it is there forever.” Knowing their bylines are eternally stamped on paper motivates writers to strive for accuracy.

The publishers also note that a printed news story is often a keepsake. “Nobody has clippings from an AL.com screen shot,” Gray said. “But Call News’ clippings are on businesses’ walls, and in wedding albums and scrapbooks, all over the place.”

Though weekly papers are holding steady, there are challenges. All interviewed agreed that the internet is changing and will continue to change print journalism. Most weekly papers have online companion sites supplementing print versions.

“Our newspapers are doing a great job expanding platforms to reach a wider slice of their communities,” Mason said. “We have a solid base of older people who like print and ink. But on the other side, young people are raised on iPads,” and many of them want their news delivered digitally.

“All of our newspapers are developing different news platforms, websites, social media and electronic editions to reach younger people,” she said. “However, print will be around for a while. It is still viable in our communities throughout the state.”

The Clay Times-Journal’s Proctor sums it up: “Regardless of the platform, there will always be a need for journalism. Someone has to attend the meetings, conduct interviews and collect data in a fair and truthful way.

“Print or digital, we work to uphold the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment. If you don’t have that, you have nothing.”

This story originally appeared in Alabama Living magazine.