Crisis averted, banned books and the power of chance encounters

I’m happy to report that a crisis I mentioned last in the newspaper industry has been averted. 

By Austin Lewter, director, Texas Center for Community Journalism

Last month, we told you the Tri-County Reporter in Springtown and Azle was closing. 

Well, it turns out that’s not the case. They found a buyer — a local family from the community who recognized the value of a vibrant hometown newspaper. 

They stepped up and ensured the paper didn’t miss a single deadline. The presses kept rolling.

The new owners are ready to dig in and do the hard work. From all accounts, it seems community journalism is alive and well in Parker, Wise and Tarrant counties. 

We wish our new friends there the best of luck. I’ve already reached out to them to offer support. This is another community journalism success story, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

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I read a banned book one weekend last month, mostly on a Sunday. I devoured it in a single day. 

I read it all the way through and then did some research on the author — someone I’d never heard of before. I wanted to know more about their work.

I learned the book I had just finished was first banned by some affluent school districts in Central Texas and then in other places across the nation.

I read their reasoning behind the ban and, having just finished the book, I couldn’t understand why someone might be offended by it. 

The notion hadn’t dawned on me. It seemed almost funny. 

But this isn’t the first banned book I’ve read, and it probably won’t be the last. I have read others like “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “The Catcher and the Rye,” “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn,” “Of Mice and Men” and “The Holy Bible.” 

If you’re interested in a good book recommendation, send me an email.

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I was back in New York City during late February. Each year, I take a group of university students to the College Media Association convention in New York City. 

For three days in Times Square, students and faculty  from across the country learn best practices from some of the brightest minds in the business. It’s an amazing opportunity for our students.

This year was no different. 

As has become tradition, when you take a trip with Lewter, you get an inside tour of The New York Times newsroom. 

Many of you may remember Andrew Chavez. He served as associate director of TCCJ a decade (or more) ago with founding director Tommy Thomason. 

Andrew works at the Times now, and he’s incredibly generous with his time and pouring his knowledge into our students.  

I met Andrew while working as managing editor at a weekly in North Central Texas. 

I had no idea that our chance encounter back then would still be impacting us, and others, 15 years later.

It reminds me of another encounter I had about 20 years ago when I met a guy at a bar. 

I was the bartender. I also worked days as a freelance journalist.

He was the evening news anchor at the local TV station, new to town and not much older than I was. 

I recognized him from TV and made a point to introduce myself. 

All these years later, we’re still friends. Charlie Haldeman from De Kalb, Texas, is now a regional executive at one of the largest broadcast companies in the nation. He’s overseeing multiple television stations from coast to coast. 

Despite his busy schedule, Charlie still takes time to help my students and me.

Last spring, I introduced him to a student. He got to know her and provided a reference for her job application. 

Today, she’s anchoring the five o’clock news at a network affiliate in Abilene. Not bad for a first job.

Then there’s the guy I met years ago in East Texas. 

I talked to him about renting a house he owned. He didn’t become my landlord, but he did become my friend. Turns out he was an old newspaper hand.

Soon thereafter, I hired Hugh Lewis at the paper I was managing.  

When I left, he took over running the paper. We worked together again some years later for a group of weeklies. 

Eventually, we bought our first newspaper together. Hugh now owns the Jefferson Jimplecute outright. It was the newspaper where I hired him after we first met all those years ago.

Because of that chance encounter a dozen years earlier, we developed a friendship that led to saving one of the oldest newspapers in Texas from closing.

I share all this to say: no meeting is ever truly by chance. 

I tell my students that you never know how a chance encounter might change your life or the lives of others for years to come. 

Don’t take those meetings for granted. Work to develop those relationships daily. You never know the lives that can be impacted by two people meeting in a bar.