25-Year-Old Takes the Helm of a Small Georgia Weekly Newspaper

Evan Newton, only 25, became the latest proprietor of The Monticello News, a small weekly serving a town in southern Georgia. Within his modest newsroom he keeps half-filled reporter notebooks, an old film canister, a walkie-talkie and even a half-burned candle to mask the scent of the office cats, one of which is a black tabby called Typo. The paper’s landline rings with a subscriber complaining that the latest issue never arrived; Newton quickly learns the customer’s subscription had lapsed and assists with renewal.

Managing a core team of three employees, along with several freelancers and contract delivery workers, he acknowledges his lack of prior business experience and a barely completed college education. Newton describes the whole operation as a hands-on learning process, handling everything from editing a softball-team story to addressing distribution hiccups. Despite the challenges, he remains committed to keeping the local paper alive amid a broader decline in community journalism.