I must admit I was a little nervous when I was offered the publisher's job at The Cleburne News. But the more I thought about it, the more excited I became. It is a chance to make an already good newspaper into one of Alabama's best weeklies.

I am a firm believer in community newspapers. Without them how would communities like Heflin, Ranburne, Fruithurst, Edwardsville and Hollis Crossroads get the news that really means something to them.

You are certainly not going to read about the local 12-and-under all-stars in The Birmingham News or even The Anniston Star.

I had a city editor at The Gadsden Times tell me something I have never forgotten. "People would rather read about a dogfight on Broad Street then a war in Hungary." I later learned he got that quote from Leo Lerner, founder of Chicago's Lerner Newspapers, who said: "A fistfight on Clark Street is more important to our readers than a war in Europe."

That is so true for community newspapers. You can get all the news about the nation and world from Fox News, CNN or The Anniston Star, but you're not going to get anything about that fistfight on Ross Street in Heflin unless you read about it in The Cleburne News.

As daily newspapers struggled over the past few years, community newspapers have managed to keep their heads above water (well, most of them). I'm not saying they haven't experienced tough economic times. I can personally attest to that with the other two newspapers I have the honor of publishing ¬— The Jacksonville News and The Piedmont Journal.

At those two papers, we have lost our offices and have had to move into offices at Consolidated Publshing in Anniston. We have had to make staff cuts. But as we emerge from these dark economic times, we are stronger than ever and people in Jacksonville and Piedmont look to us to provide the news they don't get with other news outlets.

So it is in Cleburne County.

I knew the staff at The Cleburne News was excellent and experienced. That makes my job much easier. Mickey Cook, Wayne Ruple and Misty Pointer have been a team for many years. They know Cleburne County and that will certainly help me as I settle in as part of the team.

I guess the first question everyone wants to know is: What changes will take place at The News?

There will be no personnel changes. Why would you want to meddle with an already excellent staff? The office will remain where it has been on Ross Street.

There will be some cosmetic changes in the coming weeks. We are going to give The News a makeover. Not an extreme makeover, but one that we feel will make our product easier to read. Almost immediately there will be changes on the front page, the editorial page and the sports page.

I know how important high school sports are in towns like Heflin and Ranburne. You are either a Tiger or a Bulldog. So that makes it very important to us. We hope to present a bigger and better sports section to our readers, especially during football season. And, believe it or not, the season begins in less than a month.

Starting this week, our editorial page will feature columnist Steve Flowers, who has been a Montgomery insider for many years. I think he will be a great addition to our paper.

We will continue to run Brandt Ayers' weekly column. In addition, other writers will be featured periodically, including myself. I may spout a few ideas and opinions that pop into my mind.

Another important aspect of the editorial page belongs to you, our readers. Do you have an opinion on something happening in the county or state or world. Write a letter to the editor. If you send it and it meets our standards, we'll run it.

Would you, the reader, be interested in a weekly crossword and sudoku puzzle? If so, let us know and we'll start running them.

When we do make changes we want to know what you think.

Give us a call, drop us an e-mail or send us snail mail and let us know what you like and dislike. We want to do what's best for our readers.

This is your newspaper and it is our obligation to present you with the best possible product we can.

In the coming weeks I hope to meet as many residents in the county as I can. The people I have already met have been wonderful.

Small town Alabama is wonderful. There are no nicer people in the world. I look forward to working at The Cleburne News and, with your help, making it the best weekly newspaper possible.