Many newspapers are thriving in small communities but, without succession plans, they risk closure.
The end of Laurie Ezzell Brown’s storied career in journalism has a price tag.
Brown is editor, publisher and owner of The Canadian Record, which, despite its name, is a weekly newspaper in the Texas Panhandle, serving the town of Canadian in Hemphill County since 1893. Her family has owned the paper since the 1940s, and she took over as editor and publisher in 1993. Brown is ready to retire, but her son isn’t interested in pursuing the family business. So she keeps producing her award-winning paper (circulation 1,613) while trying to find someone who will care about her neighbors as much as she does.