Sarah Stephens
Elmore Autauga News
Today marks a huge milestone in the history of the Elmore Autauga News.
On this day 10 years ago, I sat at my kitchen computer and created a Facebook page for the Elmore Autauga News. I was tired of corporate media, for a whole lot of reasons. But I mainly just wanted to start a simple page, with community news. Real community news. No bias, just the facts.
I thought it would be a semi-retirement plan, and I would write a couple of stories a week and share other information on local events. To say I seriously underestimated the response the page would get is a serious understatement.
In those early days, it was just me. Then came Bob Ealum, my friend and a great photographer. We had worked together in the old Prattville Progress days, and he had recently moved back to town. Sharon Gainey joined the mix, as we worked together at the Montgomery Advertiser. She created our first website.
For a while it was just Bob and I, riding across the roads, to as many towns as we could. We would cover every community event we knew of and share stories and a lot of photos.
Within four years, what I thought would be a small Facebook page for local interests had garnered 30,000 likes. In 2019, the Alabama Rural Electric Association of Cooperatives awarded us a Media Excellence Award for “Fair and Accurate Coverage of issues and activities concerning The Electric Cooperatives of Alabama.”
The focus for the early years was strictly the news, and we did not offer advertising. With no income produced, it was simply a work of love from three old journalism veterans.
At around that same time, Carla Wilson, owner of the River Region News, and I started talking about merging the clans. We formed a partnership that continues today. Carla brought her talents with business development and advertising, and I now embrace her as a full partner. We merged under one name in 2018 and never looked back.
We make a pretty good team. She is the pretty one. We have walked through this growth together, she in her high heels, and me in my boots. Today we are over 52,000 likes on Facebook alone, and our website numbers are through the roof. I have included a graphic which gives the latest numbers from this morning. In the past 28 days alone, we have had 3.9 million views.
When Covid hit, the print edition ended, and we now produce digitally through our website primarily, and on Facebook.
Over time so many people have come and gone, but every single person who wrote, or in more recent times, sold advertising has played a vital role in the development of this business.
We have joined with many local businesses who realize the value of our readership. We appreciate them, as they have allowed us to hire more employees. Our goal is to continue growing and expanding our coverage in Autauga and Elmore counties. We deeply appreciate our advertisers and their faith in our readership.
Today we have four full-time employees, including myself, Carla, Heather Knight, who wears many hats but holds the official title of Advertising Director and Lacey Michael who serves as our Operations Coordinator. We have wonderful freelancers in Bob Ealum, Amanda Pevey and Scott Nickerson. We have so much appreciation for the people that are in the trench with us every day. We couldn’t do it without them. It truly takes a village.
Any of us, at any time, can be called upon for whatever is needed day or night. There have been some crazy, beautiful days and sleepless nights, believe me.
So, if you are one of the original followers, thank you for hanging in there. If you have come to know about us recently, thank you and welcome.
Man plans and God laughs. For 10 years now, EAN has covered the issues that matter to our multiple communities in Autauga and Elmore counties. We hope to continue to be your source for local news long into the future. We thank you for your support! We love hearing from you.
I have always said the bad news comes uninvited. Sometimes it takes a lot more work to share the good news. So, please, if you have good news to share reach out to any of us. You can reach me directly at [email protected] If you want to take advantage of our huge following and showcase your business, please reach out to Carla Wilson at [email protected] or Heather Knight at [email protected]
Thank you to our current team and thank you to the many people who have served any time in the EAN trenches. We love what we do.
Happy Birthday to us!
Sarah Stephens has been writing for newspapers since 1985, obtained her degree in 1990 from Louisiana Tech University. In those 40 years she has served as a reporter, editor or newspaper owner for multiple publications.
