History
The Town Talk was born on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1883. [1] It was owned by the original Irish-American founders, including Edgar Hammond McCormick and Henarie Morrison Huie, and their heirs until 1996, when it was sold to Central Newspapers of Indianapolis, then the 15th-largest newspaper company in the United States. The parent company was called "McCormick & Company Inc." Central Newspapers was purchased in 2000 by Gannett of McLean, Virginia, [2] was owned until his death by Eugene S. Pulliam, the maternal uncle of former Vice President of the United States J. Danforth Quayle.
In 1962, Joe D. Smith, Jr. (1922–2008) became publisher of The Town Talk. He was the husband of Jane Wilson Smith (1922–1992), a McCormick heir whose family owned the newspaper. Over the years, Smith was also the general manager, president, and chairman of the board. Under his tutelage, The Town Talk became the first daily newspaper in Louisiana to become computerized. He took the view that newspapers were expected to foster growth and improvement in the community as well as report the news. [3] Some four years after the death of Jane Smith, the newspaper’s owning company sold to Central Newspapers for $62 million. On the acquisition of The Town Talk, Louis A. Weil III, Central Newspapers' chief executive officer, said that under Smith's leadership, "the newspaper has become one of the premier medium-sized dailies in the South. It fits with our goal of acquiring newspaper properties with a strong position in their market area and a proven history of journalistic integrity." [4] Weil's analysis was in sharp contrast to that of Adras LaBorde, who in 1945 launched a 32-year career with the newspaper. At the time, LaBorde described The Town Talk as "an overgrown country weekly published on a six-day basis." The publication had indeed changed little in the years between 1925 and 1945. [5] LaBorde retired on Jan. 1, 1977, succeeded by Jim Butler, who would be the newspaper’s top news executive until May 2003, when he retired.
Butler went to work on The Town Talk wire desk in November 1967. Subsequently he was a reporter, outdoor writer, and city editor.
He returned to newspapering in 2004 and shared a Pulitzer Prize as night editor of the Gulfport, MS Sun Herald for work in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. He later edited newspapers in Eunice (La. State Newspapers) and Leesville and DeRidder (Gatehouse) and was content editor of LSN web sites in Ville Platte, Crowley, Abbevville and other cities.
The Town Talk shifted from afternoon weekday publication and Sunday morning publication to seven-day morning delivery in the late 1970s. In the same decade it returned to job printing that had been a part of its initial business, creating McCormick Graphics.
In 1981, its business offices, advertising, news, composing and human relations offices moved across Second Street to the newly acquired former JC Penney building at Third and Washington. The planned temporary move became permanent.
The newspaper celebrated its 100th birthday in 1983 with a six-section history of the company and the area it served and with a widely acclaimed photo exhibit.
Twice in the 1980s The Town Talk was recognized by the American Society of Newspaper Editors as one of the top 15 under-50,000 circulating daily newspapers in the U.S.
Its management, news and advertising staffs were active in local, state and national organizations and received numerous awards.
The newspaper was several times named Newspaper of the Year by the Louisiana Press Assn.
On July 7, 2003, Paul V. Carty became executive editor of The Town Talk. Prior to his appointment, he was the managing editor of Gannett's Star-Gazette in Elmira, New York.
Carty started his journalism career in 1980 at the Clearwater Sun in Clearwater, Florida, owned by Jefferson-Pilot Communication. He aldo worked for newspapers owned by Landmark Communications Inc. in Norfolk, Virginia, and Elizabethtown, Kentucky; and for Knight Ridder Inc. in State College, Pennsylvania, and Bradenton, Florida. He is a former instructor in the Pennsylvania State University's College of Communications. [6]
Other key members of the news and editorial staff, as of 2009, included Richard Powell Sharkey, assistant managing editor for news and features; John Marcase, assistant managing editor for news and sports; Cynthia Jardon, editorial page editor and social media editor; Mandy M. Goodnight, news editor; and Randall Benson, sports editor.
Under the McCormick heirs, The Town Talk considered itself a politically Independent newspaper and did not endorse candidates. In 1996, however, it backed the Democrat Mary Landrieu in her narrow but successful race for the United States Senate against the Republican Woody Jenkins. The Town Talk urged Landrieu to move to the right politically because Jenkins' positions were "far too rigid and unyielding to warrant our recommendation." [7] In 2004, it endorsed Alexandria Republican Jock Scott in his unsuccessful race for the U.S. House of Representatives for Louisiana's 5th congressional district. In 2007, it supported Republican Bobby Jindal in his successful race for governor. [8]
The building in which The Town Talk has been housed since 1982 is owned and largely occupied by the companies of Ken and Charlotte Wasmer, who bought the structure in September 2015 and spent more than a year in remodeling. An upstairs of some six thousand square feet will be leased to another tenant. News director Jim Smilie noted that the newspaper throughout its history had always been located in the downtown Alexandria area and would remain at that preferred location. [9]
Beginning April 5, 2017, The Town Talk will reduce its printed editions from seven to three days per week. Hard copies will be delivered henceforth only on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. The change is being undertaken because far more read the newspaper on-line than depend on actual deliveries. Judi Terzotis, the president of The Town Talk, said that the change is driven by both customers and advertisers. The Town Talk has eight times more digital reader than print readers. In 2016, the publication had 3.4 million visitors and 22 million page views. [10]
