By Miles Layton
Since newspapers are dying … changing… I thought I’d write an occasional column to share my experiences before these stories about how and why they were written are lost to time.
I’ve worked at large newspapers and small ones – I prefer the small ones because you can talk directly with folks and know what’s really happening in your hometown. With larger newspapers, that connection between writers and readers may be lost because they cover large populations, so large that their voices get lost in the crowd. Yes, there are exceptions to the rule – good writers at big city papers may know how to connect with people, but I’d rather cover a town council meeting in coastal Carolina or a county commission meeting in the heart of West Virginia where you can form a personal relationship with the communities you cover – places in the wilderness that don’t see a lot of reporters. God puts folks where they are needed.
Many years ago, I worked for The Daily Sentinel in Pomeroy, Ohio. That town was nestled along the banks of the Ohio River, with Mason County, West Virginia, on the other side of the river — Mothman country. When the paper was locally owned, it was successful. These days, that paper no longer exists – run into the ground by repeated cycles of poor corporate management – same thing that’s been happening at a lot of local newspapers.
Charlene Hoeflich and her husband Bob managed that paper for many years. When I worked there, Charlene was my editor – she died in July of 2025. RIP. She wanted the news to reflect what was best about Meigs County – that’s important. We covered births, deaths, weddings, anniversaries, festivals, town council and county commission, land transfers, and so much more — after all, this was the first draft of Meigs County’s history.
Saying this is probably heresy among most journalists, but I’ll say it anyway – media outlets that tend to reflect on what’s bad – crime, poverty, drugs and all that – do a disservice to the community. Yes, reporting on those things is necessary to keep the public informed, but there are far more good things going on in a community than the latest shooting of no-name dirtbags.
Meigs County had its share of bad news – like most places in Appalachia or anywhere else – but The Daily Sentinel made its mission to tell positive stories about people, whether through coverage of the annual Christmas parade or an in-depth interview with a country veterinarian. These stories showed the best in people rather than the worst, and they did not pass judgment – that was important.
One story I remember covering was the annual holiday giveaway to those less fortunate in Pomeroy. A local church ministry hosted the event – tractor-trailer trucks from throughout Ohio brought food, clothes and toys to this small town that had seen better days. Everything was placed in a large room that was either a school gymnasium or an armory. I saw families with small children in line, and many senior citizens, too. That giveaway to the poor was critical to a town and county that the state and federal governments had long left behind. It was important to report on the matter in the local newspaper so people would know how to seek assistance as needed, and to highlight the generosity of folks to others in times of need.
Another story I wrote was about a country veterinarian who treated dogs, cats and made the rounds to local farms to treat livestock. Veterinarian could’ve worked anywhere, but he chose to build a practice in his hometown where he was needed. I wish more people did that these days – stayed home to build something in their communities rather than move to big cities, perhaps live without purpose and seldom planting roots long enough to leave a legacy of anything meaningful.
Veterinarian and I went to a farm so that he could look at some cattle – one of the cows was pregnant. Bear with me here – he placed a plastic “hole” over the cow’s private part so which allowed him to reach inside the animal to check its calf to make sure everything was OK. When the veterinarian was done, he asked me if I wanted to feel the calf – there was only one way to do that.
Yep, I stuck my hand and then a good chunk of my arm down that hole. Memorable experience – warm, weird, eye-opening – made for a better story for The Daily Sentinel. This was the kind of story that’s best done in person, not by email or phone. This is the type of story that is missed by today’s reporters – who helicopter into a story and then leave without saying thanks or goodbye.
Speaking of farms, I was lucky enough to serve as editor of the Tyler Star News, a weekly newspaper in Sistersville, West Virginia. I loved the community and working there; still have fond memories of the people and places in that neck of the woods in Tyler and Wetzel counties.
Sistersville is a tight-knit community located along the banks of the Ohio River. Tyler County is between Wheeling and Parkersburg, both of which are large cities in West Virginia. Tyler Consolidated High School’s principal posts positively excellent videos where he talks to Bigfoot or the Abominable Snowman when there are major snowstorms ahead. The people who live in that deeply rural area treasure their families, friends and neighbors — values that tend to be missing in large cities where neighbors don’t know each other’s names.
I wrote a story about the Roberts’ clan – they owned a big dairy farm and had deep roots in Elk Fork within Tyler County.
My story began — For more than 100 years, the Roberts’ family farm has stood as a testament to the solid values that have made Tyler County a special place to live.
The family’s warm, white, wooden old farmhouse stands firm, tried and true against a sloping hillside overlooking a valley where cattle graze.
“I was born in this house,” said John Roberts, then 80, the family’s patriarch. “I’ve never lived anywhere else.”
From that story, I learned a lot about a modern-day family that to me was a real-life family like the Waltons – a popular television show from the 70s. John told me how he milked cows since he was a youngster.
“I always wanted to milk cows from the time when I was a kid,” said Roberts, the third generation of his family to farm the land and tend to the herds. “My father gave me a cow. He gave it to me when she was a calf in 1943. Later, I sent her to market at an old age.”
I loved writing that story – and it showed. The article was picked up by the Associated Press and published in newspapers big and small across the country.
Deep in the heart of coal country is Harlan, Kentucky. If you don’t know where Harlan is, well, it’s where that song “You’ll never leave Harlan alive” is based on. Mine wars were fought there when workers tried to unionize – those scars run deep.
For a brief time, I was editor of the Harlan Enterprise, a weekly newspaper serving all of Harlan County. Loved it.
Harlan is a small town world where faith was as important as coal mining. Christ Church has served Harlan, Kentucky, for more than a hundred years.
I wrote that this church is very warm, welcoming and accepting.
“While small in numbers, the diversity within the community is surprising,” Pastor Bryant Kibler Sr. said. “We are comprised of people who have come from many faith traditions, where here at Christ Church they have found they can worship God while being accepted as travelers along the road. Some of our community have advanced professional degrees while others have completed high school or have GED’s.”
Perhaps this story inspired what I wrote this past week about Warwick Baptist in Chowan County, NC. For folks in Appalachia who read my stories, Chowan County and the surrounding area border the Albemarle Sound and are a short hop to the Atlantic Ocean. People around these parts value their families and traditions, many of them tied tightly to the land and their hometowns. Love it here – a great place to live in a community that embraces faith and family.
The strength of weekly and small daily newspapers was not so much the bottom line, but that they shared stories that connected and informed folks near and far.
When I asked Pastor Jeffery Russell what he liked best about being a pastor, he replied, “The best part is proclaiming the Word of God and being a servant,” he said. “Ministering to people. I have a passion for loving people and helping them realize God’s calling on their life.”
Good quote, so I’ll end on that note.
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If you want to reach out to me, my email address is mileslayton1969@gmail.com
