By: Forrest R. Church, Publisher
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
In late September, I drove to Omaha, Nebraska, to attend the annual National Newspaper Association Convention. I look forward to this trip each year as the convention is held in different locations across our country, often in cities I would not otherwise visit.
Last year, I had the honor of being in the House of Representatives halls in Washington D.C. to discuss postal reform after massive issues and price increases to our Periodical Permit to mail your newspaper. Other recent cities have included San Francisco, California; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Norfolk, Virginia; Jacksonville, Florida; and Franklin, Tennessee. I am unable to attend the conference every year but I do my best.
It was a long drive from Northwest Ohio after a work shift, but I honestly enjoyed it. There are times when I feel desperate to escape the hectic lifestyle of being a newspaper publisher, which demands endless hours in front of a computer monitor and on the phone. The long drive across Indiana, Illinois, and Iowa west toward Nebraska during one of the most beautiful times of the year was refreshing. The autumn colors were vibrant in the trees, and the fields were gold and brown as farmers gathered their harvest to feed the world. It was amazing and much needed.
Attending the conference was an honor, especially since our newspaper staff either won or was nominated for fifteen awards—see the related article in this week’s edition.
It was also refreshing to connect with others who are equally passionate about this profession. The cornfields of Northwest Ohio do not offer many opportunities to meet fellow newspaper publishers over coffee, sharing our frustrations and, preferably, encouraging one another. Frankly, there are not many left. Many former publishers that I fellowshipped with in one way or another are no longer in business, such as the Hamilton News, Antwerp Bee Argus, Hicksville Tribune, Montpelier Leader, Fulton County Expositor, Delta Atlas, State Line (Morenci) Review, Swanton Enterprise, Fayette Review, and many others within a short drive are gone.
But there was another surprise on the trip. I did not know at the conference that Eric Meyer, Publisher of the Marion County Record (Kansas), would speak and that I would have several instances of being able to spend time with him one-on-one to discuss the ordeal he recently went through.
A brief recap of a complicated story that received international attention:
On August 11, 2023, the Marion County Record, a local newspaper in Kansas, was raided by law enforcement under the direction of then-Police Chief Gideon Cody. The raid targeted the newspaper’s office, the home of its editor, Eric Meyer, and the residence of a city councilwoman. Authorities alleged identity theft and computer crimes, but these claims were later dismissed as unfounded by prosecutors. Tragically, during the raid, Eric Meyer’s 98-year-old mother, Joan Meyer, who co-owned the newspaper and lived with him, suffered significant distress and passed away the following day from a heart attack attributed to the stress of the incident. Eric Meyer has publicly stated that he believes the raid directly contributed to her death.
In the aftermath of the raid, Police Chief Gideon Cody resigned from his position in September 2023 and has since been charged with felony obstruction of justice and interference with the judicial process. These charges stem from allegations that Cody attempted to persuade a witness to withhold information and requested a local restaurant owner to delete text messages related to the investigation. A motion by Cody to dismiss the charges for lack of probable cause was rejected by the District Judge, indicating the seriousness of the allegations against him.
The raid has ignited a national conversation about press freedom and the role of law enforcement in suppressing journalistic activities. A report from prosecutors concluded that no crimes were committed by the newspaper staff, raising questions about the legitimacy of the police actions. Eric Meyer has called for accountability not only for Cody but also for other officials involved in the raid, emphasizing the need for transparency in law enforcement.
As the legal proceedings against Cody continue, the case has become a focal point for advocates of press freedom and civil rights. Cody, who is reportedly living in Hawaii, made his first public appearance in Marion since his resignation during a recent court hearing.
Numerous news agencies around the world covered this story, which again, was captured on home security footage showing Eric’s elderly mother yelling at authorities—who were a third of her age—to get out of her home. It is simply heartbreaking. I have followed this story closely since first learning about it, through Joan’s funeral and, of course, all the legal proceedings since.
I have not personally investigated the incident and have relied upon reports from other media outlets. We are not the judge and jury on the matter and know there is always two sides to a story. But this has been extremely concerning and seems pretty clear cut.
I’ve talked about my family in this column and noted that you cannot separate family from the community hometown news business when you own, operate and live the line of work 24/7. The owners from whom I bought our first newspaper lived the same life. Most hometown newspapers share this lifestyle, so the thought of having your office—and even worse, your home—raided because of investigative reporting at your newspaper is concerning at best.
I learned a lot about the case that I will not share here. I listened to Eric publicly speak about how a current police leader, who is a short-term replacement, wanted to press assault charges against his 98-year-old mother due to raising her walker when they were raiding their family home on the day before her death. Just unreal. I know what my departed grandmothers on both sides of the family would have done with their walkers in this case.
The point of sharing this story with my column readers was that despite being very concerned about attacks on freedom of the press, I was inspired by Eric’s determination to continue the paper, even the next edition. While having to plan his mother’s funeral and despite having all the computers, software, and basic equipment needed to produce a newspaper seized, he still published the next edition, still mad that he was just about perfect beyond forgetting one advertisement. WOW!
The mindset of remaining community newspaper publishers throughout the country clearly can be summarized as, “Find a way – we get it done!”—clearly sometimes in the midst of scenarios that we cannot even fathom or plan for.
In a group setting, I shared how not in one instance but twice, I made our print press deadline from the comforts of an emergency room, one time on a morphine drip for kidney stones. I joked that it was the best newspaper we ever published (anybody going to college in the 1970s knows what I am talking about). Others shared their personal stories that were an inspiration at their community newspaper operation.
I also shared the story of Thanksgiving 2005 when we were computer hacked in West Unity (The Advance Reporter) along with our sister office in Edon (The Edon Commercial) which hosted our backup computer system. Everything including our backup was wiped out with a message, “You’re F***ed” as our welcome message when discovering the attack. We had no idea how to put one foot in front of another; everything was wiped out. It would have been easier to recover if a fire had burned the business to the ground or if we were flattened by a tornado. I could have gone to Best Buy, bought a few computers, restored the backup, and would have been operational.
I was able to share with my colleagues while being very clear our story pales in comparison to Eric’s experience, we were able to continue. Although all these years later, I think we are still trying to recover from the financial loss from our computer hacking incident.
I would also like to note I am personally extremely pro-law enforcement, and in our case, those serving were absolute heroes from the Williams County Sheriff’s Office, Defiance County Cyber Crime, West Unity, Edon, Edgerton, and Montpelier Police Departments, and others. In our case, through our internal investigation capabilities coupled with law enforcement efforts, we traced the hackers. When they were rightly raided their computer equipment found some pretty nasty material. Those who remember or followed our case can remember; I won’t go back into details further. Long story short, I believe this case of obvious overreach and corruption in Kansas does not nor should not reflect the norm for law enforcement, actually just the opposite (at least my experiences).
As I drove back home through the beautiful autumn conditions in Iowa, Illinois, and Indiana after the completion of this year’s conference, I had time to reflect on this newspaper mindset. Community newspapers, “Find a way – we get it done!”
I think maybe I need to start a line of merchandise with this concept printed on shirts and coffee cups. But seriously, this is one of the most difficult lines of work to exist in, yet we, “Find a way – we get it done!”
While restaurants, retail shops, and other businesses may enjoy profit margins of 25%, 50%, or 75%, we often sell our thick newspaper edition for a financial loss, yet we, “Find a way – we get it done!”
Though the hours are insane and the pay at any minimum wage job would be an increase, we, “Find a way, we get it done!” We feel a calling to do this each day / each week.
Working at a community newspaper will not make anybody rich, yet we find the right community team members that believe in our vision for our Northwest Ohio communities and stand shoulder to shoulder with us to produce The Village Reporter each week – we, “Find a way – we get it done!”
God forbid we face anything like we have in the past again or anything close to Eric’s story, but if we do, I’m thankful for the conversations at this year’s convention and the long drive back to reflect. I needed the reminder that we, “Find a way – we get it done!”
That is it for this week. I’d love to hear from you. As always, feel free to reach out to me at publisher@thevillagereporter.com or via mail at 115 Broad Street, Montpelier, Ohio 43543.