Story By: Meg Wallace
MONTEVALLO, Ala. — This semester, The Alabamian, UM’s student newspaper, got off to a slow start when supervisors ran into trouble filling positions. The main position waiting to be filled was that of the editor-in-chief, who would be a key component in determining the rest of the staff. Until this position was filled, there would be no new issues of the Alabamian.
Eventually, the Student Publications Committee found enough candidates to interview, one of which was Blaine Richardson. While he was new to journalism, Richardson showed skills in publication and management.
Blaine Richardson is a graduate student at the University of Montevallo. He received a bachelor’s degree in English with a minor in creative writing and is now studying for a master’s degree.
Richardson decided to come to UM shortly after he toured the campus.
“I really liked the campus. I always knew that I wanted to go somewhere smaller.” Richardson says.
He narrowed down his options to the University of North Alabama and the University of Montevallo. At the time, Richardson’s mother was working at UNA, but he wanted to go somewhere on his own.
“That left pretty much Montevallo,” he says. “And I haven’t regretted that decision yet.”
His love of the campus and his experiences at the University of Montevallo led him to pursue his graduate degree at the same place.
Richardson’s main career goal is to work in publications, which is what he is doing now as the editor-in-chief for The Alabamian.
“I’ve always favored leadership roles, and knew that I could write, edit, take photos, while also leading other editors and helping them do the same,” Richardson says. “A lot of the staff members are people who are new to publications overall, so it’s really important to learn how to best guide and teach newer staff.”
According to Pew Research Center, the popularity of newspapers has been in stark decline since the evolution of technology and the prevalence of online news. This year, the people behind The Alabamian struggled to find staff members and failed to fill the positions by the original deadline. At the time, the returning members of the staff expressed fear for the future of the paper. The positions were eventually filled, but the delay led to the staff having several new members and the paper getting off to a late start.
“I saw that the position hadn’t been filled yet in mid-September, and I wanted to make sure The Alabamian was still around,” said Richardson.
Before joining the team at The Alabamian, Richardson had worked for the “Tower,” UM’s student magazine, during his undergraduate career. The “Tower” and The Alabamian share an office, so Richardson was familiar with the environment.
“With my past experience in Tower, I felt comfortable throwing my hat in the ring, even with minimal journalism experience,” said Richardson. “I knew I could do justice, and that I could excel.”
Richardson has always had a fascination with publications. Specifically, he says student publications are a great introduction to the field. He says that because a lot of the staff members are new to journalism, managing a student publication can be useful experience for training and leading others. He says that The Alabamian and the “Tower” have helped him gain this type of experience.
Richardson says the two experiences have “helped hone my knowledge of publications, how they work, how to use the programs necessary, and within the editor-in-chief role specifically, how to lead others in publications.”
I’ve learned so much from being the editor-in-chief of The Alabamian, and I hope to continue learning. But also, it’s been fun.
Blaine Richardson, editor-in-chief of the Alabamian
Richardson says working at The Alabamian has helped him learn the difference between magazine and newspaper publishing. “I’d rather learn here than when working for the Times,” he says.
Richardson acknowledges that being editor-in-chief of The Alabamian is much different than working for “Tower,” despite using similar skills.
“Working for a paper, it’s mainly been that I’ve learned how to manage stricter deadlines. For “Tower” or “Montage,” you could take your time with it,” Richardson says. “With The Alabamian, with it printing every two weeks, I’ve had to learn how to both put together an issue we’re working on as well as how to prepare for our upcoming issues.”
While Richardson is in charge of The Alabamian, he stresses that he can’t do it alone. “I literally can’t make this paper without my staff, so it’s in my best interest to make sure everyone else is doing their best, and that’s really all I can ask for.”
He also shares his thoughts about his time as editor-in chief-overall.
“It’s been a learning experience. I’ve learned so much from being the editor in chief of the Alabamian, and I hope to continue learning,” he says. “But also, it’s been fun.”
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