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Minden Press-Herald (view source)
Revision as of 22:08, December 21, 2019
, 22:08, December 21, 2019Created page with "File:Revised photo of Minden Press-Herald in Minden, LA IMG 0825.JPG|right|thumb|300px|The ''Minden Press-Herald'' building opened in March 1986 on Gleason Street in downtow..."
[[File:Revised photo of Minden Press-Herald in Minden, LA IMG 0825.JPG|right|thumb|300px|The ''Minden Press-Herald'' building opened in March 1986 on Gleason Street in downtown [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]], [[Louisiana]], in a renovated former grocery store building.<ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 23, 1986.</ref>]]
'''''The Minden Press-Herald''''' is a Monday-Friday daily [[newspaper]] published in [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in northwestern [[Louisiana]], by Specht Newspapers, Inc. It serves the Minden and Webster Parish circulation area with mostly local news.
The first newspaper by this name in Minden was founded in 1895. The newspaper has evolved through many manifestations. In 1989, the Louisiana Press Association presented ''The Press-Herald'' with the annual "Freedom of Information Award" for its work the previous year in maintaining public access to city meetings and records.
==Original ''Minden Herald''==
The earliest use of the name ''Minden Herald'' dates to 1895, after publisher and editor William Jasper Blackburn (1820-1899), an [[Arkansas]] native, settled in Minden, then a part of Claiborne Parish, and established the newspaper. He was a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], a supporter of the Union during the [[American Civil War]] and opposed [[slavery]]. He was [[mayor]] of Minden for a single one-year term from May 1855 to May 1856. Blackburn published his ''Minden Herald'' for about six years. It was not the first newspaper in Minden. That distinction was held by the former ''Minden Iris'', which was established in 1848 at the same time as the founding of neighboring Bienville Parish.<ref name=agan>John Agan, "Minden Press-Herald story goes back more than 150 years", ''Minden Press-Herald'', 2007</ref>
The Minden political climate shifted to favor the [[Know Nothing Party]], which repudiated "non-native" ideas, and Blackburn moved to Homer in Claiborne Parish, where he founded the ''Homer Iliad'' newspaper. He published in opposition to the [[Confederate States of America]]. Tried in Confederate District Court in [[Shreveport]], Blackburn escaped conviction by a single vote on charges of having produced counterfeit Confederate currency. Had the conviction verdict been unanimous, he would have been hanged.<ref name=agan/>
Blackburn remained in Homer during the [[Reconstruction]] era. He was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] as a [[Republican Party|Republican]], serving from 1868 to 1869. Thereafter, he was a member of the Louisiana State Senate until he was defeated in 1878 by a Democrat allied with the pro-Confederate Redeemer government. Blackburn relocated to [[Little Rock]], where he published the ''Arkansas Republican''.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000510 BLACKBURN, William Jasper - Biographical Information<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Harper Brothers and Lowe==
The name ''The Minden Herald'' was revived briefly during Reconstruction, but few, if any, issues of the newspaper of that period are extant. A quotation from ''The Shreveport Times'', which began publication in 1871, refers in 1872 to ''The Minden Herald.'' A later ''The Minden Herald'' was published in 1924 under the direction of printer Clifton Harper (1902–1982), a native of [[Mississippi]]. Harper attended [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]] and worked at another publication called ''The Webster Signal.''
''The Signal'' was published by Thomas Wafer Fuller, a Democratic state senator from 1896 to 1900 and as Webster Parish school superintendent from 1908 to 1920. After Fuller's death in 1920, his widow, the former Alma Bright, continued publishing ''The Signal'' for several years thereafter.
Clifton Harper studied printing under the direction of his brother, William Harper. He worked for the new ''Minden Tribune,'' edited for a time by J. Frank Colbert (1882-1949), who was a state representative from 1920 to 1925 and the [[mayor]] of Minden for a single two-year term from 1944 to 1946.<ref>"Official Returns Given for Minden Primary Election, ''Minden Herald,'' April 14, 1944, p. 1.</ref>
Clifton Harper left Minden in 1924 to attend [[Baylor University]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], [[Texas]], and then [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. For eight years he taught at the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the [[University of Georgia]] in Athens.<ref name=chservices>"Clifton Harper Services Today," ''The Minden Press-Herald,'' April 5, 1982, p. 1.</ref> Harper and his wife, the former Myrtle Buckley (1904–1990), both completed their degrees in business administration and [[journalism]] and returned to Minden. Clifton’s brothers, William Harper (1894–1971) and Clinton Harper (1904–1978), along with Prentiss W. Lowe (1905-1992), had founded the ''Webster Sentinel'' there in October 1928. Clifton Harper joined the paper as editor.<ref name=agan/>
On November 17, 1949, Clifton Harper started the ''Minden Press'' and remained its publisher until 1956, when he sold the publication.<ref name=chservices/>
On November 14, 1929, the name ''Minden Herald'' was restored by the Harper brothers and Prentiss Lowe, the fathers of the "The Herald" half of the ''Minden Press-Herald.'' At the time, ''The Webster Sentinel'' explained that the resumption of the name ''Minden Herald'' was intended to clear up confusion over another journal, ''The Webster Signal-Tribune,'' which had begun in 1926, when the ''The Webster Signal'' merged with ''The Minden Tribune.''<ref name=agan/>
In May 1936, ''The Herald'' was voted the best newspaper in Louisiana by a panel that included the journalist and State Representative [[Rupert Peyton]] of Shreveport. At the time ''The Herald'' carried no "boiler-plate" news but only original local reporting. It was cited for layout, news, and editorials.<ref>"Herald voted best in Louisiana," ''Minden Herald,'' May 8, 1936, p. 1.</ref>
==Spivas’ Webster Printing Company==
Under Clifton Harper’s leadership, the weekly ''The Minden Herald'' was published on Friday. His editorials called for economic growth and modernization. Harper Brothers and Lowe acquired ownership of the other local paper, the ''Signal-Tribune,''published on Tuesday. In February 1932, the ''Minden Herald'' purchased the ''Webster News'' and changed its name to the ''Minden Herald'' and ''Webster News,'' published as a single newspaper. This arrangement continued until April 1937, when the Harper Brothers left the local newspaper market. The papers were sold to the Webster Printing Company, owned by Hubert Spiva (1899-1939) and his wife, the former Lilla Ellenor Stewart (1906-1959). Hubert Spiva was a veteran newspaperman and his wife, Lilla, daughter of the attorney Daniel W. Stewart, Sr. of Minden and a niece of [[William G. Stewart]], namesake of the defunct William G. Stewart Elementary School in Minden, had experience in journalism. The new company ceased publication of ''The Signal-Tribune'' and issued ''The Webster News'' as a separate paper on Tuesday.<ref name=agan/>
After Hubert Spiva's death, Webster Printing and Lilla Spiva had sole control of the Minden newspaper market through the 1940s. In 1949, she was the only woman representative from Louisiana at the annual meeting of the National Editorial Association in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]].<ref>"Minden Publisher Attends National Press Convention," ''The Minden Herald and Webster News,'' November 11, 1949, p. 1.</ref>
The Spivas had a son, Hubert Tamblyn "Tam" Spiva, Jr. (1932-2017), a script writer, with work on such [[television]] programs as ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' and ''Gentle Ben.''
In 1949, Clifton Harper returned to the local newspaper scene with his new ''Minden Press.'' He engaged in an aggressive arketing campaign and moved his publication to Thursday to have a day’s advantage on the ''Minden Herald.'' For a time, Minden was again served by three local papers: the ''Minden News'' on Monday, the ''Minden Press'' on Thursday, and the ''Minden Herald'' on Friday.<ref name=agan/>
==Emergence of the ''Press-Herald''==
In January 1953, ''The Webster News'' was renamed ''The Webster Review.'' In October 1954, ''The Webster Review'' and the ''Minden Herald'' were consolidated into a single publication issued on Thursday in competition with ''The Minden Press'' on Monday. This change came at the same time that Major Louis dePingre (1928–2007), a native of Leesville in Vern Parish and a [[Louisiana State University]] graduate, was hired as editor of the latest ''Minden Herald.''
In December 1955, Webster Newspapers Corporation was formed under the direction of [[Tom Colten]], a [[Detroit]], native, who moved to Minden from Bogalusa in Washington Parish, here he had been business manager of ''The Bogalusa Daily News.'' After Webster Newspapers purchased ''The Minden Press'' from Harper and ''The Minden Herald'' from Mrs. Spiva, it combined the newspapers under the ''Minden Press-Herald'' name. DePingre was named editor of both the ''Minden Press'' (Monday) and the ''Minden Herald'' (Thursday). Colten served as publisher of both papers beginning with the January 1956 issues. In 1962, he bought out his business partner in the business, Charles Nutter.<ref name=agan/>
On January 17, 1969, publisher Richard Hill announced that ''The Press-Herald'' would convert three days later from hot metal to offset printing.<ref>"Press-Herald Goes Offset on Monday," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 17, 1969, p. 1.</ref><ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 20, 1969, p. 1.</ref>A few weeks later, Hill resigned as publisher and was succeeded by Tom Kelly, a native of Winn Parish. For the preceding seven years he had published ''The Ruston Daily Leader'' and was previously the managing editor of the ''Jennings Daily News'' in Jefferson Davis Parish in southwestern Louisiana.<ref>"Tom Kelly Named Publisher," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 6, 1969, p. 1.</ref>
In 1989, the Louisiana Press Association presented ''The Press-Herald'' with the annual Freedom of Information Award for the year 1988 in recognition of the editorial staff's achievement in preventing the City of Minden from closing its meetings or restricting records from public access. The late 1980s had been a time of intense investigations into activities of the mayor, [[Noel Byars|Noel "Gene" Byars]], who was recalled from office in January 1989. He was subsequently convicted in the 26th Judicial Court of felony theft.<ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' April 16, 1989, p. 1.</ref> In the summer of 1988, Byars had ordered municipal employees not to meet with the news media without first consulting him.<ref>Sonny Jeane, "Mayor orders city employees not to meet with news media," ''The Minden Press-Herald'', July 24, 1988, p. 1</ref>
==Specht Newspapers, Inc.==
In 1965, Colten sold the newspapers to Richard Hill. Colten became the executive director of the Minden [[Chamber of Commerce]] and was elected the next year as mayor, serving two consecutive four-year terms. While Colten had hoped to establish a daily newspaper, that goal was not achieved until July 18, 1966, when the current ''Minden Press-Herald'' made its debut. The ''Press-Herald'' was sold to Specht Newspapers, Inc. It publishes the newspaper at 203 Gleason Street in Minden, the site of a former grocery store, along with ''The Bossier Press-Tribune'' in [[Bossier City]].<ref name=agan/> Chipley Newspapers of [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], [[Florida]], is a subsidiary of Specht Newspapers.<ref>[https://intranet.freedom.com/freedom_admin/images/pdf/Pensacola%20News%20Journal_Florida.pdf]</ref>
Specht Newspapers was headed by David Arthur Specht, Sr. (1945-2011, a native of [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. A son of the late Arthur and Mary Specht, David Specht moved to Minden in 1968 and became the advertising manager and soon thereafter the publisher<ref name=spechtassumes>"Specht Assumes Management of 'Press-Herald'", ''Minden Press-Herald'', August 28, 1969, p. 1</ref> of ''The Minden Press-Herald." He later became the owner. Specht thereafter spent several years publishing newspapers in [[Alabama]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Florida]], before he founded Specht Newspapers, Inc., in 1983.<ref name=specht>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=david-specht&pid=150316655|title=David A. Specht, Sr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 18, 2011}}</ref>
Specht also owned Webster Printing Company in Minden. He died at the age of sixty-five after a lengthy illness. Specht was survived by his wife, the former Cheryl Mulford of Minden; a son, David A. Specht, Jr., of Minden, the current president of Specht Newspapers, Inc., and his wife, Tina Specht; two grandsons, Zachary and Joshua Specht; sister, Melanie Montgomery of [[Tallahassee]], Florida, and brother, William Specht of Shreveport.<ref name=specht/>
After five months as publisher, Tom Kelly returned in August 1969 to ''The Ruston Daily Leader.''<ref name=spechtassumes/> In 2014, he was publishing the monthly ''The Piney Woods Journal'' in in Winn Parish with a focus on the timber industry.
==Divisions of the ''Press-Herald''==
The ''Minden Press-Herald'' is divided into:
*Local News
*Community News
*Opinion
*Sports
*Obituaries
*Good News (includes religion)
*Classified
*The 318 Mix - A weekly entertainment section.
The ''Press-Herald's'' online version can be found at www.press-herald.com.
==Current and former ''Press-Herald'' staffers==
'''Current'''
* '''Gregg Parks''', Publisher; former sports editor
* '''Bruce Franklin''' Managing Editor
*'''Carol Andrews''' Chief Financial Officer
*'''Michelle Bates''' Reporter
*'''Blake Branch''' Sports Reporter
*'''Jordan Wilson''' Community Editor
*'''Telina Worley''' Advertising Director
'''Former'''
* '''John Agan''' (born 1958) is the former author of "Echoes of the Past", a periodic column on local and state [[history]], much of it from the 19th century. He is a [[professor]] at [[Bossier Parish Community College]] in Bossier City and the official Webster Parish historian.
*'''Juanita Murphy Agan''' (1923–2008) wrote a periodic column "Cameos", which focuses on "older times" of [[Americana]]. She was the mother of John Agan.
*'''Josh Beavers''' (born c. 1979), former publisher and editor, resigned 2014.<ref>"My Time Here Has Ended", ''Minden Press-Herald'', July 18, 2014</ref> A native of Claiborne Parish, Beavers was born to Dwight Alan Beavers (1948–2008) and the former Sheila McKenzie; in 2013, he was named vice president of Specht Newspapers, Inc.<ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' April 9, 2013.</ref>
*'''Derwood Alexander Brett''' (born 1947), originally from Camden, [[Arkansas]], reared in Farmerville in Union Parish; advertising director in the early 1970s; publisher in the early 1990s, resident of Mt. Ida in Montgomery County, Arkansas<ref>"Brett new ''Press-Herald'' publisher," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' September 19, 1990, p. 1.</ref>
*[[Jerry Byrd]], sports editor c. 1992; joined ''The Press-Herald'' after having written 2,131 consecutive columns for the defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'',<ref>"Byrd named sports editor," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' June 30, 1991, p. 1.</ref> later sports editor for ''Bossier Press-Tribune.''
*'''Gene Clark''' (born 1935), originally from Franklin Parish, became managing editor in February 1974, having previously been at the ''Denham Springs News'' in Livingston Parish. He had earlier worked at ''The Press-Herald'' sports desk.<ref>"Press-Herald" Appoints Clark Managing Editor," ''The Minden Press-Herald,'' February 5, 1974, p. 1.</ref>
*'''Barbara Colley''', once edited the [[advertising]] section of ''The Press-Herald." She is a romance and mystery [[novelist]] based in the [[New Orleans]] metro area.
* '''Bonnie Jean Culverhouse,''' formerly '''Bonnie Koskie''' (born 1955), was the news editor of ''The Minden Press'' and ''The Minden Herald'' from 1960 to 1966.
*'''Wayne E. Dring''' (1940-2017), former advertising director and managing editor of ''The Press-Herald'' during the early 1970s; formerly editor of the weekly ''The Bienville Democrat'' in Arcadia in Bienville Parish.
*'''Kerry B. Garland''' (1951-1983, automobile accident victim), managing editor in mid-1970s<ref>"Kerry Garland named P-H Managing Editor," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 1, 1976, p. 1.</ref>
*'''David Kidd''' (born 1951), sports editor in 1973, was a champion track runner at Westlake High School in Calcasieu Parish and [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]<ref>"Press-Herald Names Sports Editor", ''Minden Press-Herald'', June 12, 1973, p. 1</ref>
*[[Charles Maple]] (1932-2006), native of [[Oklahoma City]]; first lieutenant in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps from 1954 to 1956 at Fort Lee, [[Virginia]], Fort Bragg in [[North Carolina]], and Fort Jackson, [[South Carolina]]; police reporter for ''The Amarillo Globe-News,'' owner of ''The Pike County News'' in Murfreesboro, Arkansas; news editor of weekly ''Minden Press'' and ''Minden Herald'' (1960-1966); [[chamber of commerce]] executive director in Minden (1966-1971), Sapulpa, [[Oklahoma]], and Jacksonsville, [[Texas]] (1977-1980), state editor of ''The Shreveport Times''; assistant superintendent of the Texas State Railroad, a heritage railroad between Rusk and Palestine, Texas (1981-1993); died while retired in Pearsall, interred beside his wife, Claudia Martin Maple (1935-2009), at Ebenezer Cemetery in Kosse, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Maple&GSfn=Charles&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=46&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=16788231&df=all&'
|title=Charles E. Maple|publisher=''The Shreveport Times'' and ''Amarillo Globe-News'' through findagrave.com|date=November 26, 2006|accessdate=February 28, 2015}}</ref>
*'''Marilyn Miller''', a former ''Press-Herald'' executive director, industry [[public relations]] representative, and the author of ''Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light: A True Crime Story'' based on a crime in Webster Parish which occurred on [[Christmas]] 1916.<ref>Marilyn Miller, ''Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light, a True Crime Story'', (Many, Louisiana: Sweet Dreams Publishing Company, 2000) isbn=1-893693-09-0</ref>
*'''Nody Parker''' (1943–2007) was sports editor of ''The Press-Herald'' in the early 1970s and an area [[baseball]] coach with a career in education, both in the classroom and in administration, in Louisiana and Texas. He died while residing in Farmersville, Texas, and is interred at Bayou Macon Cemetery in Pioneer in West Carroll Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/component/tjmremembrancenter/narvel-nody-parker-sr-43125|title=Narvel Eddy "Nody" Parker, Sr.|publisher=turrentinejacksonmorrow.com|accessdate=March 8, 2015}}</ref>
*[[Stanley Tiner]], the retired executive editor of ''The Sun Herald'' in Gulfport-Biloxi, [[Mississippi]]. Tiner, a Shreveport native and graduate of the journalism department at Louisiana Tech University, was the managing editor of''The Press-Herald'' from September 1969 to March 1970.
*'''Joey White''', sports editor and managing editor, 1977 to 1986.<ref>"Press-Herald staffer takes AL post," ''Minden Press-Herald,', January 15, 1988, p. 1.</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Minden Press-Herald}}
[[Category:Louisiana]]
[[Category:Newspapers]
'''''The Minden Press-Herald''''' is a Monday-Friday daily [[newspaper]] published in [[Minden, Louisiana|Minden]] in northwestern [[Louisiana]], by Specht Newspapers, Inc. It serves the Minden and Webster Parish circulation area with mostly local news.
The first newspaper by this name in Minden was founded in 1895. The newspaper has evolved through many manifestations. In 1989, the Louisiana Press Association presented ''The Press-Herald'' with the annual "Freedom of Information Award" for its work the previous year in maintaining public access to city meetings and records.
==Original ''Minden Herald''==
The earliest use of the name ''Minden Herald'' dates to 1895, after publisher and editor William Jasper Blackburn (1820-1899), an [[Arkansas]] native, settled in Minden, then a part of Claiborne Parish, and established the newspaper. He was a [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], a supporter of the Union during the [[American Civil War]] and opposed [[slavery]]. He was [[mayor]] of Minden for a single one-year term from May 1855 to May 1856. Blackburn published his ''Minden Herald'' for about six years. It was not the first newspaper in Minden. That distinction was held by the former ''Minden Iris'', which was established in 1848 at the same time as the founding of neighboring Bienville Parish.<ref name=agan>John Agan, "Minden Press-Herald story goes back more than 150 years", ''Minden Press-Herald'', 2007</ref>
The Minden political climate shifted to favor the [[Know Nothing Party]], which repudiated "non-native" ideas, and Blackburn moved to Homer in Claiborne Parish, where he founded the ''Homer Iliad'' newspaper. He published in opposition to the [[Confederate States of America]]. Tried in Confederate District Court in [[Shreveport]], Blackburn escaped conviction by a single vote on charges of having produced counterfeit Confederate currency. Had the conviction verdict been unanimous, he would have been hanged.<ref name=agan/>
Blackburn remained in Homer during the [[Reconstruction]] era. He was elected to the [[United States House of Representatives]] as a [[Republican Party|Republican]], serving from 1868 to 1869. Thereafter, he was a member of the Louisiana State Senate until he was defeated in 1878 by a Democrat allied with the pro-Confederate Redeemer government. Blackburn relocated to [[Little Rock]], where he published the ''Arkansas Republican''.<ref>[http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000510 BLACKBURN, William Jasper - Biographical Information<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>
==Harper Brothers and Lowe==
The name ''The Minden Herald'' was revived briefly during Reconstruction, but few, if any, issues of the newspaper of that period are extant. A quotation from ''The Shreveport Times'', which began publication in 1871, refers in 1872 to ''The Minden Herald.'' A later ''The Minden Herald'' was published in 1924 under the direction of printer Clifton Harper (1902–1982), a native of [[Mississippi]]. Harper attended [[Minden (Louisiana) High School|Minden High School]] and worked at another publication called ''The Webster Signal.''
''The Signal'' was published by Thomas Wafer Fuller, a Democratic state senator from 1896 to 1900 and as Webster Parish school superintendent from 1908 to 1920. After Fuller's death in 1920, his widow, the former Alma Bright, continued publishing ''The Signal'' for several years thereafter.
Clifton Harper studied printing under the direction of his brother, William Harper. He worked for the new ''Minden Tribune,'' edited for a time by J. Frank Colbert (1882-1949), who was a state representative from 1920 to 1925 and the [[mayor]] of Minden for a single two-year term from 1944 to 1946.<ref>"Official Returns Given for Minden Primary Election, ''Minden Herald,'' April 14, 1944, p. 1.</ref>
Clifton Harper left Minden in 1924 to attend [[Baylor University]] in [[Waco, Texas|Waco]], [[Texas]], and then [[Louisiana State University]] in [[Baton Rouge]]. For eight years he taught at the Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the [[University of Georgia]] in Athens.<ref name=chservices>"Clifton Harper Services Today," ''The Minden Press-Herald,'' April 5, 1982, p. 1.</ref> Harper and his wife, the former Myrtle Buckley (1904–1990), both completed their degrees in business administration and [[journalism]] and returned to Minden. Clifton’s brothers, William Harper (1894–1971) and Clinton Harper (1904–1978), along with Prentiss W. Lowe (1905-1992), had founded the ''Webster Sentinel'' there in October 1928. Clifton Harper joined the paper as editor.<ref name=agan/>
On November 17, 1949, Clifton Harper started the ''Minden Press'' and remained its publisher until 1956, when he sold the publication.<ref name=chservices/>
On November 14, 1929, the name ''Minden Herald'' was restored by the Harper brothers and Prentiss Lowe, the fathers of the "The Herald" half of the ''Minden Press-Herald.'' At the time, ''The Webster Sentinel'' explained that the resumption of the name ''Minden Herald'' was intended to clear up confusion over another journal, ''The Webster Signal-Tribune,'' which had begun in 1926, when the ''The Webster Signal'' merged with ''The Minden Tribune.''<ref name=agan/>
In May 1936, ''The Herald'' was voted the best newspaper in Louisiana by a panel that included the journalist and State Representative [[Rupert Peyton]] of Shreveport. At the time ''The Herald'' carried no "boiler-plate" news but only original local reporting. It was cited for layout, news, and editorials.<ref>"Herald voted best in Louisiana," ''Minden Herald,'' May 8, 1936, p. 1.</ref>
==Spivas’ Webster Printing Company==
Under Clifton Harper’s leadership, the weekly ''The Minden Herald'' was published on Friday. His editorials called for economic growth and modernization. Harper Brothers and Lowe acquired ownership of the other local paper, the ''Signal-Tribune,''published on Tuesday. In February 1932, the ''Minden Herald'' purchased the ''Webster News'' and changed its name to the ''Minden Herald'' and ''Webster News,'' published as a single newspaper. This arrangement continued until April 1937, when the Harper Brothers left the local newspaper market. The papers were sold to the Webster Printing Company, owned by Hubert Spiva (1899-1939) and his wife, the former Lilla Ellenor Stewart (1906-1959). Hubert Spiva was a veteran newspaperman and his wife, Lilla, daughter of the attorney Daniel W. Stewart, Sr. of Minden and a niece of [[William G. Stewart]], namesake of the defunct William G. Stewart Elementary School in Minden, had experience in journalism. The new company ceased publication of ''The Signal-Tribune'' and issued ''The Webster News'' as a separate paper on Tuesday.<ref name=agan/>
After Hubert Spiva's death, Webster Printing and Lilla Spiva had sole control of the Minden newspaper market through the 1940s. In 1949, she was the only woman representative from Louisiana at the annual meeting of the National Editorial Association in [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]].<ref>"Minden Publisher Attends National Press Convention," ''The Minden Herald and Webster News,'' November 11, 1949, p. 1.</ref>
The Spivas had a son, Hubert Tamblyn "Tam" Spiva, Jr. (1932-2017), a script writer, with work on such [[television]] programs as ''[[The Brady Bunch]]'' and ''Gentle Ben.''
In 1949, Clifton Harper returned to the local newspaper scene with his new ''Minden Press.'' He engaged in an aggressive arketing campaign and moved his publication to Thursday to have a day’s advantage on the ''Minden Herald.'' For a time, Minden was again served by three local papers: the ''Minden News'' on Monday, the ''Minden Press'' on Thursday, and the ''Minden Herald'' on Friday.<ref name=agan/>
==Emergence of the ''Press-Herald''==
In January 1953, ''The Webster News'' was renamed ''The Webster Review.'' In October 1954, ''The Webster Review'' and the ''Minden Herald'' were consolidated into a single publication issued on Thursday in competition with ''The Minden Press'' on Monday. This change came at the same time that Major Louis dePingre (1928–2007), a native of Leesville in Vern Parish and a [[Louisiana State University]] graduate, was hired as editor of the latest ''Minden Herald.''
In December 1955, Webster Newspapers Corporation was formed under the direction of [[Tom Colten]], a [[Detroit]], native, who moved to Minden from Bogalusa in Washington Parish, here he had been business manager of ''The Bogalusa Daily News.'' After Webster Newspapers purchased ''The Minden Press'' from Harper and ''The Minden Herald'' from Mrs. Spiva, it combined the newspapers under the ''Minden Press-Herald'' name. DePingre was named editor of both the ''Minden Press'' (Monday) and the ''Minden Herald'' (Thursday). Colten served as publisher of both papers beginning with the January 1956 issues. In 1962, he bought out his business partner in the business, Charles Nutter.<ref name=agan/>
On January 17, 1969, publisher Richard Hill announced that ''The Press-Herald'' would convert three days later from hot metal to offset printing.<ref>"Press-Herald Goes Offset on Monday," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 17, 1969, p. 1.</ref><ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' January 20, 1969, p. 1.</ref>A few weeks later, Hill resigned as publisher and was succeeded by Tom Kelly, a native of Winn Parish. For the preceding seven years he had published ''The Ruston Daily Leader'' and was previously the managing editor of the ''Jennings Daily News'' in Jefferson Davis Parish in southwestern Louisiana.<ref>"Tom Kelly Named Publisher," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 6, 1969, p. 1.</ref>
In 1989, the Louisiana Press Association presented ''The Press-Herald'' with the annual Freedom of Information Award for the year 1988 in recognition of the editorial staff's achievement in preventing the City of Minden from closing its meetings or restricting records from public access. The late 1980s had been a time of intense investigations into activities of the mayor, [[Noel Byars|Noel "Gene" Byars]], who was recalled from office in January 1989. He was subsequently convicted in the 26th Judicial Court of felony theft.<ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' April 16, 1989, p. 1.</ref> In the summer of 1988, Byars had ordered municipal employees not to meet with the news media without first consulting him.<ref>Sonny Jeane, "Mayor orders city employees not to meet with news media," ''The Minden Press-Herald'', July 24, 1988, p. 1</ref>
==Specht Newspapers, Inc.==
In 1965, Colten sold the newspapers to Richard Hill. Colten became the executive director of the Minden [[Chamber of Commerce]] and was elected the next year as mayor, serving two consecutive four-year terms. While Colten had hoped to establish a daily newspaper, that goal was not achieved until July 18, 1966, when the current ''Minden Press-Herald'' made its debut. The ''Press-Herald'' was sold to Specht Newspapers, Inc. It publishes the newspaper at 203 Gleason Street in Minden, the site of a former grocery store, along with ''The Bossier Press-Tribune'' in [[Bossier City]].<ref name=agan/> Chipley Newspapers of [[Pensacola, Florida|Pensacola]], [[Florida]], is a subsidiary of Specht Newspapers.<ref>[https://intranet.freedom.com/freedom_admin/images/pdf/Pensacola%20News%20Journal_Florida.pdf]</ref>
Specht Newspapers was headed by David Arthur Specht, Sr. (1945-2011, a native of [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]]. A son of the late Arthur and Mary Specht, David Specht moved to Minden in 1968 and became the advertising manager and soon thereafter the publisher<ref name=spechtassumes>"Specht Assumes Management of 'Press-Herald'", ''Minden Press-Herald'', August 28, 1969, p. 1</ref> of ''The Minden Press-Herald." He later became the owner. Specht thereafter spent several years publishing newspapers in [[Alabama]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Florida]], before he founded Specht Newspapers, Inc., in 1983.<ref name=specht>{{cite web|url=http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/shreveporttimes/obituary.aspx?n=david-specht&pid=150316655|title=David A. Specht, Sr.|publisher=''The Shreveport Times''|accessdate=April 18, 2011}}</ref>
Specht also owned Webster Printing Company in Minden. He died at the age of sixty-five after a lengthy illness. Specht was survived by his wife, the former Cheryl Mulford of Minden; a son, David A. Specht, Jr., of Minden, the current president of Specht Newspapers, Inc., and his wife, Tina Specht; two grandsons, Zachary and Joshua Specht; sister, Melanie Montgomery of [[Tallahassee]], Florida, and brother, William Specht of Shreveport.<ref name=specht/>
After five months as publisher, Tom Kelly returned in August 1969 to ''The Ruston Daily Leader.''<ref name=spechtassumes/> In 2014, he was publishing the monthly ''The Piney Woods Journal'' in in Winn Parish with a focus on the timber industry.
==Divisions of the ''Press-Herald''==
The ''Minden Press-Herald'' is divided into:
*Local News
*Community News
*Opinion
*Sports
*Obituaries
*Good News (includes religion)
*Classified
*The 318 Mix - A weekly entertainment section.
The ''Press-Herald's'' online version can be found at www.press-herald.com.
==Current and former ''Press-Herald'' staffers==
'''Current'''
* '''Gregg Parks''', Publisher; former sports editor
* '''Bruce Franklin''' Managing Editor
*'''Carol Andrews''' Chief Financial Officer
*'''Michelle Bates''' Reporter
*'''Blake Branch''' Sports Reporter
*'''Jordan Wilson''' Community Editor
*'''Telina Worley''' Advertising Director
'''Former'''
* '''John Agan''' (born 1958) is the former author of "Echoes of the Past", a periodic column on local and state [[history]], much of it from the 19th century. He is a [[professor]] at [[Bossier Parish Community College]] in Bossier City and the official Webster Parish historian.
*'''Juanita Murphy Agan''' (1923–2008) wrote a periodic column "Cameos", which focuses on "older times" of [[Americana]]. She was the mother of John Agan.
*'''Josh Beavers''' (born c. 1979), former publisher and editor, resigned 2014.<ref>"My Time Here Has Ended", ''Minden Press-Herald'', July 18, 2014</ref> A native of Claiborne Parish, Beavers was born to Dwight Alan Beavers (1948–2008) and the former Sheila McKenzie; in 2013, he was named vice president of Specht Newspapers, Inc.<ref>''Minden Press-Herald,'' April 9, 2013.</ref>
*'''Derwood Alexander Brett''' (born 1947), originally from Camden, [[Arkansas]], reared in Farmerville in Union Parish; advertising director in the early 1970s; publisher in the early 1990s, resident of Mt. Ida in Montgomery County, Arkansas<ref>"Brett new ''Press-Herald'' publisher," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' September 19, 1990, p. 1.</ref>
*[[Jerry Byrd]], sports editor c. 1992; joined ''The Press-Herald'' after having written 2,131 consecutive columns for the defunct ''[[Shreveport Journal]]'',<ref>"Byrd named sports editor," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' June 30, 1991, p. 1.</ref> later sports editor for ''Bossier Press-Tribune.''
*'''Gene Clark''' (born 1935), originally from Franklin Parish, became managing editor in February 1974, having previously been at the ''Denham Springs News'' in Livingston Parish. He had earlier worked at ''The Press-Herald'' sports desk.<ref>"Press-Herald" Appoints Clark Managing Editor," ''The Minden Press-Herald,'' February 5, 1974, p. 1.</ref>
*'''Barbara Colley''', once edited the [[advertising]] section of ''The Press-Herald." She is a romance and mystery [[novelist]] based in the [[New Orleans]] metro area.
* '''Bonnie Jean Culverhouse,''' formerly '''Bonnie Koskie''' (born 1955), was the news editor of ''The Minden Press'' and ''The Minden Herald'' from 1960 to 1966.
*'''Wayne E. Dring''' (1940-2017), former advertising director and managing editor of ''The Press-Herald'' during the early 1970s; formerly editor of the weekly ''The Bienville Democrat'' in Arcadia in Bienville Parish.
*'''Kerry B. Garland''' (1951-1983, automobile accident victim), managing editor in mid-1970s<ref>"Kerry Garland named P-H Managing Editor," ''Minden Press-Herald,'' March 1, 1976, p. 1.</ref>
*'''David Kidd''' (born 1951), sports editor in 1973, was a champion track runner at Westlake High School in Calcasieu Parish and [[Louisiana Tech University]] in [[Ruston, Louisiana|Ruston]<ref>"Press-Herald Names Sports Editor", ''Minden Press-Herald'', June 12, 1973, p. 1</ref>
*[[Charles Maple]] (1932-2006), native of [[Oklahoma City]]; first lieutenant in the United States Army Quartermaster Corps from 1954 to 1956 at Fort Lee, [[Virginia]], Fort Bragg in [[North Carolina]], and Fort Jackson, [[South Carolina]]; police reporter for ''The Amarillo Globe-News,'' owner of ''The Pike County News'' in Murfreesboro, Arkansas; news editor of weekly ''Minden Press'' and ''Minden Herald'' (1960-1966); [[chamber of commerce]] executive director in Minden (1966-1971), Sapulpa, [[Oklahoma]], and Jacksonsville, [[Texas]] (1977-1980), state editor of ''The Shreveport Times''; assistant superintendent of the Texas State Railroad, a heritage railroad between Rusk and Palestine, Texas (1981-1993); died while retired in Pearsall, interred beside his wife, Claudia Martin Maple (1935-2009), at Ebenezer Cemetery in Kosse, Texas.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Maple&GSfn=Charles&GSbyrel=all&GSdyrel=all&GSst=46&GScntry=4&GSob=n&GRid=16788231&df=all&'
|title=Charles E. Maple|publisher=''The Shreveport Times'' and ''Amarillo Globe-News'' through findagrave.com|date=November 26, 2006|accessdate=February 28, 2015}}</ref>
*'''Marilyn Miller''', a former ''Press-Herald'' executive director, industry [[public relations]] representative, and the author of ''Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light: A True Crime Story'' based on a crime in Webster Parish which occurred on [[Christmas]] 1916.<ref>Marilyn Miller, ''Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light, a True Crime Story'', (Many, Louisiana: Sweet Dreams Publishing Company, 2000) isbn=1-893693-09-0</ref>
*'''Nody Parker''' (1943–2007) was sports editor of ''The Press-Herald'' in the early 1970s and an area [[baseball]] coach with a career in education, both in the classroom and in administration, in Louisiana and Texas. He died while residing in Farmersville, Texas, and is interred at Bayou Macon Cemetery in Pioneer in West Carroll Parish.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.turrentinejacksonmorrow.com/component/tjmremembrancenter/narvel-nody-parker-sr-43125|title=Narvel Eddy "Nody" Parker, Sr.|publisher=turrentinejacksonmorrow.com|accessdate=March 8, 2015}}</ref>
*[[Stanley Tiner]], the retired executive editor of ''The Sun Herald'' in Gulfport-Biloxi, [[Mississippi]]. Tiner, a Shreveport native and graduate of the journalism department at Louisiana Tech University, was the managing editor of''The Press-Herald'' from September 1969 to March 1970.
*'''Joey White''', sports editor and managing editor, 1977 to 1986.<ref>"Press-Herald staffer takes AL post," ''Minden Press-Herald,', January 15, 1988, p. 1.</ref>
==References==
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[[Category:Louisiana]]
[[Category:Newspapers]