Johnston takes over as publisher of The Anson Record

ROCKINGHAM — Tricia Johnston has been at the helm of The Anson Record for the early portion of 2022 after hitting the ground running late last year.

She comes to Anson County from her last stop as the publisher of a cluster of three papers in West Virginia: The Times West Virginian in Fairmont, The Register-Herald in Beckley and the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. In her new role, Johnston now runs The Anson Record, the Richmond County Daily Journal, and the Laurinburg Exchange, all of which are owned by Champion Media.

Johnston was born in Delaware but grew up in Pennsylvania and Texas during her middle and high school years before landing in Cleveland, OH. Though she’s not a North Carolina native, Johnston has fond memories of vacationing to the state’s beaches as a child and has many people close to her who have relocated here.

In her short time in the area, Johnston said, “I see such a genuine love and care for the community from everyone I have met so far.”

“The first thing I have to do is learn as much as I can about our readers and customers: what do they need from us, what do they want from us, and what can we do better to serve them?” Johnston added.

Johnston grew up in a home that was full of books, newspapers and magazines but found her own way to journalism through a love for the opportunities it presents to learn something new about the world we live in, about the people we share it with, and about why things happen the way they do.

She chose English in college because it had the most electives, allowing her to take a broad array of courses including history, marketing, labor relations and more, eventually going on to earn a Bachelor of Arts in English from St. Bonaventure University in upstate New York.

Johnston got her start working at the local community newspaper in northeast Ohio as a sales account executive and rose through the ranks. She started a co-op department there and eventually was responsible for all marketing and promotions. With the rest of her time, she continued to pursue higher education, earning an MBA from John Carroll University.

During this time she was mentored by a generous publisher, learning how business concepts played out in the real world, but then left the newspaper industry to work at a manufacturing firm for several years. She then joined the local United Way as their marketing and communications director before returning to her first newspaper as an advertising manager.

Her next step was being promoted to ad director at the Philadelphia newspaper which was her hometown paper as a child where she led her team’s successful transition to digital advertising sales. This success led her to her first publisher job in Michigan, later at The Goshen News in Indiana before her stop at the West Virginia papers.

At each stage of her career, she said her proudest moments have come from building teams that work, where staff is able to excel personally while also contributing to the success of the whole.

“It’s the most rewarding thing, to help someone learn something new and apply it, try again after a setback, and then ultimately succeed,” she said. “It’s even better when everyone comes together and those same things happen with the group. I’m lucky to have been able to work with truly wonderful people throughout my career.”

Johnston sees newspapers as having many roles in the communities they serve, but all of these roles stem from a mandate of creating connection.

“Of course, we must serve as the watchdog: what are people in power doing and how does it affect the citizen? But we also want to help readers know more about their community that they may not see or experience in their daily lives,” she said. “What are the community’s strengths, what are the challenges? Who is in a position to make things better and how are they doing it? We can also help local businesses reach out to local consumers. All of those connections are necessary for a community to be strong and healthy.”

She comes to Champion Media in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic which forced the Daily Journal and Laurinburg Exchange to cut print days down to two days per week starting in spring 2020, initially publishing e-editions on the other three days but now sending out email newsletters on non-print days. Johnston said this loss has been a disappointment for the papers and their readers, but she sees it as a challenge that will decide the future of the newspapers.

“The last few years have been a tough transition for newspapers, as they have been for many industries and businesses. The loss of print days is a disappointment for us as well as our readers, but taking advantage of all the digital tools we have to share news is an exciting opportunity,” Johnston said. “I think our challenge is to find the balance between the way we’ve traditionally operated, which is how many of our readers wish to continue, with the ability to reach more readers through newer digital methods. But the bottom line is that we continue to cover the news and tell the stories that are important to Anson County.”