Welcome to a new era at The Oglethorpe Echo.
Looking at this front page, you might have noticed strange new names and a different look to your community newspaper.
Please don’t be alarmed.
Starting with this edition, a team of University of Georgia student interns have taken over for longtime editor Ralph Maxwell and his staff and have begun to write the articles and take the photos that will help fill this newspaper on a weekly basis this fall.
The plan is to keep covering Oglethorpe County, its communities, and most importantly, its people, in the same fair and truthful manner that Maxwell, his family and his staff have done for generations.
And in the process help save this respected Oglethorpe County institution.
“We’re honored and excited to work with a great team to save The Oglethorpe Echo,” Charles N. Davis, dean of UGA’s Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication, said in a release. “This is an incredible hands-on learning opportunity for our students, and it means a great deal to us to keep a 148-year tradition moving forward.”
Davis, Oglethorpe County resident Dink NeSmith and Maxwell worked together to put this plan into place.
“I am very pleased that Dink and the journalism school and Dr. Davis are trying to pull this together,” Maxwell said in the Grady College release. “They have the knowledge and experience and connections to get it done. I think Oglethorpe County needs a good newspaper. Every community needs a good newspaper, and this is in the best interest of everyone involved.”
So please be patient. Please be kind. Please work with us.
The names you see here are student-journalists. They’re still learning and they’re new to your county. They don’t have the experience, the contacts and the knowledge that Maxwell and his staff have built and used well through the years.
So the student-journalists are already working hard to get to know you and report the stories that are important to you. In fact, you might have already seen them around the county.
Here’s the student staff and their beats:
- Maddie Brechtel, government
- Thomas Ehlers, schools
- Julianna Russ, courts and crime
- Alden Lisse, business/features
- De Turner, sports
- Mackenzie Tanner, copy editor/social media
- Sarah White, photojournalist
Despite the new names, you can still use the same email address and dial the same phone number to submit your photos, your calendar items, your press releases, your scores and other news important to you and Oglethorpe County.
“This is more about community spirit and we will be 100% local to residents of Oglethorpe County,” NeSmith said.