The girl they wouldn’t let write has started two sound, successful newspapers
By Megan Wimpy, Community Journalism, University of Kentucky, Fall 2008
Sharon Burton, right, saw a need for news and filled it both times by establishing two newspapers, The Farmer’s Pride and the Adair County Community Voice.
Burton, 47, right, grew up on a beef-cattle and tobacco farm in the tiny community of Sparksville. In high-school journalism class, Burton said she was the girl her peers wouldn’t let write because she was from the county’s most rural area.
Nevertheless, Burton was the first in her family to attend college, and from day one, she wanted to be a journalist. In high school a few years after the Watergate scandal, Burton said, “Journalism was a career that was admired and considered one of integrity.”
After graduating from Western Kentucky University in 1983, Burton worked at the local weekly newspaper, The Adair County News, but she didn’t like the way the paper was operated, and became a customer service manager and department manager at Wal-Mart.
She returned to the paper after it changed hands. However, in 1989, she came back from maternity leave and a few weeks later was handed a piece of paper from the publisher saying they were “ceasing publication.” Burton said she had the responsibility of writing the front-page story about the closing before finding a new job.
The company had another paper, Kentucky Farm and Dairy. Burton’s friend Leila Graham worked for the publication, and suggested that they start their own agricultural paper. “I just thought it sounded like fun,” said Burton.
Having no specific business plans, Burton said, “We borrowed $15,000 and began to run a newspaper on the back porch.” The money came from Graham’s godmother, who happened to be the president of a bank.
“Leila had a good eye for business and a great relationship with customers,” said Burton. “I did most of the news reporting and my partner was in charge of advertising and sales.” In May Burton had been left unemployed, but by the end of June the first issue of The Farmer’s Pride was published.
When Kentucky Farm and Dairy closed, Burton had little competition, and benefited from knowledge of an existing mailing list. Because dairy producers had to register with the state, there was a public-record list of 3,000 to 4,000 dairy producers, said Burton. The paper’s initial focus was on dairy farmers because the state list constituted most of their mailing list.
Besides building relationships and attending trade shows to generate circulation, Burton and Graham worked with other businesses and organizations to get their mailing lists. “We sent papers to livestock markets and tobacco warehouses to give to their customers,” said Burton. The Farmer’s Pride still uses many of the same techniques.
Advertising sold easily because Kentucky dairy auctions had no other way to communicate within their market, Burton said. “The first issue had 24 pages, half of which were filled with advertisements.”
The first few months involved sacrifices, said Burton. “We didn’t take home paychecks.” However, in less than a year they had a payroll and rented an office. The initial loan was paid within the first few years and Burton bought out her co-owner in 1995.
The dairy industry in Kentucky declined, but ironically, it was a great time to be in the ag-newspaper business, said Burton, because “The auction sales kept us going.” The problem with those types of ads is that they only run once.
While the dairy industry shrank, large0scale poultry production came to Kentucky, and grew. As more chicken processing plants came to Kentucky in the early 1990s, The Farmer’s Pride became “the poultry publication,” said Burton.
To others, The Farmer’s Pride was also known as “the tobacco newspaper,” Burton said. “Producers in Tennessee and North Carolina were buying our paper because they couldn’t get the information anywhere else.”
One of Burton’s biggest challenges as editor and publisher is determining where to focus. “Kentucky agriculture is so diverse,” she said, “but we became their newspaper.”
The Farmer’s Pride covered everything that pertained to the guy growing the crop, said Burton. “We covered everything from production to legislation to industry groups.”
Filling a niche
Burton is nearing her 20th year reporting, writing and publishing Kentucky agriculture news in a niche she created.
The Farmer’s Pride has been an “awesome” publication for Kentucky agriculture, said Dr. Will Snell, UK extension professor of agriculture economics. “The paper not only focuses on farming issues,” said Snell, “but issues that impact the cultural fabric of rural communities.”
Twenty years ago, most major newspapers in the state had a farm section in their paper and writers would be assigned to agriculture topics, but this is no longer the case, said Snell, and Burton has filled the gap. “The Farmer’s Pride keeps me abreast of critical issues, meetings, and challenges that are affecting the Kentucky farm economy in a timely fashion,” said Snell.
That’s a long way from Burton’s beginnings. “I didn’t know what I was doing at first, but I quickly fell in love with it,” she said. “There are an overwhelming number of issues in agriculture,” so it is a daily task to balance and prioritize information on producers and policy issues, she said. “We want to make sure we aren’t ignoring anybody.”
As agricultural issues become more controversial it is critical to provide objective news articles to policymakers and others that shape public policy, said Snell. “The Farmer’s Pride is a medium to provide educational and objective input in this on-going battle.”
One of those issues is tobacco. Many farmers grew their last tobacco crop in 2005 due to the end of the federal tobacco program, but the industry continues on larger tracts – and the money from the national tobacco settlement continues to generate news in Kentucky’s agriculture community, because half the state’s share has been allocated for improvement of the state’s agricultural economy. No other state has put as much of its settlement funds directly back into agriculture as Kentucky.
The Farmer’s Pride covers organizations such as the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy. The office serves as staff for the Agricultural Development Board, which oversees spending of the tobacco settlement money for agriculture.
“I attended every Ag Board meeting during the early years,” particularly 2000 through 2003, said Burton. She also attended meetings across the state when members and staff developed their process for determining how to invest the funds. “We have done some heavy stories” evaluating their process and looked at some of the problems they have had, said Burton. Most of the settlement money has been spent on upgrading Kentucky’s cattle industry.
As producers have left the tobacco industry, horticulture, fruits and vegetables have expanded in Kentucky.
The Farmer’s Pride has long been a building block for new companies to get producers interested in the market and provide an advertising base.
To keep building its own base, The Farmer’s Pride publishes regional focus issues a couple times a year. “It is fun traveling from one end of the state to the other to interview producers,” Burton said.
Many if not most farm publications circulate without a subscription or single-copy fee, but “The Farmer’s Pride was always a paid publication,” said Burton.
The Farmer’s Pride started as a weekly paper, but the advertising didn’t support that schedule, so it went to twice a month in 2002, but did not change its $10 subscription rate. Total paid distribution of The Farmer’s Pride is 5,248 copies, according to its latest annual postal statement, filed in October 2008.
An independent voice
Publications focused on specialized interests can be more vulnerable to pressure from advertisers who are a part of one or more of those interests. Burton said she had never been pressured to write or not write a story by an interest group or advertiser. “I have written a few editorials that have upset people,” she said.
Burton recalled Sam Moore, then the president of the Kentucky Farm Bureau, inviting her to his office to discuss one of her editorials. “He was upset but he respected my objective voice,” said Burton.
In an interview, Moore did not recall the subject matter of her editorial, but said The Farmer’s Pride is an important publication for rural Kentucky. “Sharon does a good job meeting the needs of the ag community,” he said. “She is fair-minded and does her best to cover news that is important to Kentucky farmers.”
Burton said she likes aggressive news coverage, but it is a struggle for her when someone has to be challenged. “The Farmer’s Pride has one bias. It is for the American farmer,” she said. “That is our responsibility.” She added, “The company name is Farmland Publications, Inc. is intended to be something farmers can be proud of.”
Kara Keeton covers most of the agriculture-related meetings across the state and is a free-lance writer for The Farmer’s Pride, Cow Country News and Kentucky Farm Bureau. Keeton is a former communications director for the Governor’s Office of Agricultural Policy.
The Farmer’s Pride tries to highlight the most important issues regarding production and policy, said Keeton. “Sometimes we just talk with several people in the ag community,” she added, “then we find a story.”
Snell said there are other regional farm magazines, but the stories they run on Kentucky agriculture may be old news by the time they are published. “I often have to write or make presentations on changes in the Kentucky agriculture economy, and I depend greatly on The Farmer’s Pride in keeping me informed and up-to-date,” he said. Thus, The Farmer’s Pride does not just serve farmers, but those who serve farmers and the state’s entire agricultural community.
With less than 2 percent of the population having a career directly related to agriculture, “One of my jobs at UK is promoting public awareness of agriculture, said Snell. “All of us who care about the future of Kentucky agriculture must do a better job of informing the general public, urban media, policymakers, and others of the role that agriculture plays in our economy.” He added, “Sharon Burton has been one that has contributed greatly to that crusade.”
It’s not just about the agriculture issues, said Snell. “I always enjoy reading Sharon and Kara Keeton’s columns since I can relate to many of their personal experiences,” said Snell. “Sharon often writes about her daughter, who is the same age as my oldest daughter.”
Keeton said, “The more experience outside of your comfort zone, the better the writing. Sometimes my writing can seem too much like a press release,” she said. “Sharon has taught me to write it like readers want to read it.”
The Farmer’s Pride doesn’t just say wheat prices are high but explains why, said Dr. Randy Weckman, associate professor in UK’s Department of Community and Leadership Development. “Sharon understands that agriculture is politically driven and puts agriculture in a social context,” Weckman said, adding that The Farmer’s Pride is a great resource for UK’s College of Agriculture.
A new venture
Even as many people were singing her praises, Burton said, “I got bored with my role in The Farmer’s Pride and prayed for a passion.”
After developing a business plan this time around, she began publishing the Adair County Community Voice in 2002. With the support of her staff and husband, she wanted to help her community by giving it a better newspaper.
“You can’t have a progressive and strong community without a good newspaper to provide encouragement,” said Burton. Frustrated with the direction of her community, Burton’s first big story highlighted the community drug problem through the eyes of an ex-addict.
Originally, the Voice was mailed once a month free to every home in the county, approximately 8,000 copies, said Burton. The Voice abandoned its free circulation and mailed its first paid-subscription only copies in June 2007. Burton felt that it was a risk she was willing to take, because of her previous experience with The Farmer’s Pride.
Total paid distribution of the Voice is 2,318 copies, according to the annual postal statement filed in October 2008. If no household receives more than one paper, the Voice reaches 34 percent of the households in the county, based on the 2000 census, which is reasonably current because the county is not growing much.
Eight employees work together on both publications, said Burton.
Right away Burton saw big differences between The Farmer’s Pride and the Voice. People in the agriculture industry paid their bills and understood professional journalism, said Burton. “The Voice was hard for the community to understand,” and residents were more worried about hurting someone’s feelings than presenting the truth, said Burton.
Recently, the Voice published stories that embarrassed the county’s highest elected official. The episode demonstrated that Burton’s reporting has gained her respect in Adair County, and sources for other stories.
After someone in a county office gave Burton a tip, the Voice reported July 17 that County Judge-Executive Ann Melton and her husband Gary had been named in a civil suit seeking repayment of $445,000 in construction loans related to his business.
About two months later, the Voice published a story about a police investigation regarding $14,544 missing during Melton’s last year as county clerk. The case closed with no plans for criminal charges. The Voice received documents relating to the investigation after filing an open-records request with state police.
Melton said she paid the money back to keep the bonding she is required to have as judge-executive. Police records termed the case “suspicious,” said Burton, but she did not publish that information in the Voice. Instead, she reported the police finding that because of recordkeeping and the number of clerks who have access to the money drawers, it would be difficult to pinpoint a suspect.
The last front-page article in the Voice about Melton and husband reported that they filed Chapter 13 bankruptcy. That week Burton wrote an editorial telling readers that reporting the news is not always easy. She wrote that many residents would rather her keep the story hidden, and it was difficult to write because Melton has worked hard for the community and improved county government.
Burton wrote, “As residents of this community you have the right know about your county judge’s situation and the media have a responsibility to tell you.”
Burton told the fall 2008 Community Journalism class at the University of Kentucky that a newspaper is supposed to hold the leaders of the community accountable and the community deserved to know about the case.
“If you’re not willing to do these stories, you don’t need to be in this business,” she said. But she added, “If you don’t care about the subjects of these stories and people close to the subjects you don’t need to be in this business.”
Burton said she received criticism from friends and neighbors for the stories, but saw the episode as an educational experience for the community.
Burton said she writes in the best interests of Adair County. The Melton stories are an example of the kind of coverage readers were not used to seeing until the Voice. The Adair Progress, the other local paper, did not cover the civil matters involving the county judge, and does not print public records.
Teaching the community
Part of Burton’s self-assigned job is educating the community about quality journalism. “I’ve seen a change in mindset in our community after teaching them what a newspaper should do,” she said. “It’s not easy to be the one to point out flaws.”
UK student Lisa Hargis, a lifelong resident of Adair County, said the Voice has had a positive impact on the county. “The Voice is known as ‘the gossip paper’ in my community because it publishes all the county records such as arrests, court cases and divorces,” she said. “Sharon gets out the real news, no matter what community politics are involved.”
Hargis added, “I really like the fact that Community Voice has a personal feel to it, it's not just stuffy and boring.” Everyone reads “the gossip paper” in Adair County to find out what is going on, said Hargis. “They act like it’s the gospel.”
Retired insurance agent David Wells of Columbia said the Voice has had a “significant impact on our community.” The other paper has “mundane news reporting and no statistics on police reports,” said Wells. “I no longer subscribe to the other paper. I would consider it a waste of money.”