John Underwood, Editor of the Robertsdale Independent, spoke of newspaper change and technology at the April Men's 710. He noted a church connection with printing, Gutenberg using the first printing press to print the "Good News," the Bible. Times change, but the need for news in any community continues. Twenty five years ago the computers of the day were basically a type-setting innovation with publishers still very dependent on pencils, paper, rulers, and people. Forget all those things today, except for the people.
Underwood held up a “PMT,” a large photo of a newspaper page. He noted that, instead of the cutting and pasting of decades past, copy goes directly from computer to negative to silver plate to press to ink on page. Yes, there is a human being in there checking spelling and other errors, but it is quite a different story from the labor-intensive work of even a decade ago.
Innovation has not just hit the printing portion of the newspaper business. It was not long ago that photos had to be developed and plates cut, a matter of hours. With the advent of digital cameras, newspaper darkrooms for developing photos have been converted to storage and what formerly took hours now takes minutes! A photo journalist can evaluate a picture immediately and with a digital camera can instantly retake a fuzzy picture, minimizing poor quality.
The library used to be a reporter's good friend, but no longer. The internet has replaced the public library for research and information and is basically an instant servant for facts.
Population shifts in Baldwin County have also impacted news. The papers of the county now have a more urban focus, and where news from rural pockets of population continues, it is now interwoven with news from the more urban parts of the county. Underwood noted that the Independent has two reporters, but when the resources of the seven sister newspapers of the area are considered, over two dozen people share information, all sharing under their seven Gulf Coast Newspapers respective local editors.
Some things in the newspaper business don't change. The Independent is concerned with community events. Many “regular” events have grown significantly over the past decade. Underwood alluded to the Strawberry Festival in Loxley as an example, once a small event with a couple booths, but now large and booths filling a whole park. The Independent continues to cover these kinds of events. It is people-oriented and reports the events people in Baldwin are involved in. Naturally there is special interest in events in schools and other places where children are involved.
Technology has brought a faster pace to the publishing business. As in the old days, every page is proofed. But think about minimizing proofing with things like a computer using a spell-checking program. Papers can be larger, because of time efficiencies related to that technology. But the Independent's overall goal has remained the same as a quarter century ago, to connect and serve the people of Baldwin County with a quality newspaper product.
John Underwood can speak authoritatively for our area from his editorial experience, but being a five-generation native of Baldwin County has given him extra insight into Lower Alabama's newspaper industry. He is a graduate of Bayside Academy in Daphne and the University of South Alabama (BA in Communication Arts). He worked on The Independent in Robertsdale (staff writer, contributing editor, associate editor, and managing editor) prior to moving to Washington, N.C., in 1995 where he served as managing editor of the Washington Daily News, a 20,000 circulation daily newspaper serving eastern North Carolina. Underwood returned to Baldwin County in 1997 and served as editor of The Foley Onlooker from 1997 to 1998 when he took over duties of sports editor for The Onlooker and The Islander in Gulf Shores. He later added the duties of sports editor for the Elberta - Lillian Ledger. 2001 brought responsibilities as sports coordinator for Gulf Coast Newspapers - seven county newspapers (The Independent, The Foley Onlooker, The Elberta - Lillian Ledger, The Islander, The Baldwin Times in Bay Minette, The Fairhope Courier, and the Daphne/Spanish Fort Bulletin). This past year he returned as editor of The Independent. John and his wife Linda live in the Summerdale/Magnolia Springs area of Baldwin and attend St. Andrew By The Sea Community Church in Gulf Shores.
