We're taking a personal approach to the interview series this time. We're talking with current employees who have worked at The News-Gazette the longest to find out what it has been like to work at the paper.
This week I sat down with Stephanie Blevins. Her official job title is the layout designer but over her 38 years at the paper, she has acquired many skills and jobs. Currently she is also a photographer, does photo processing, and has other responsibilities relating to layout and photography.
Why did you come to work at The News-Gazette?
Well, I graduated from high school in '84. I graduated on Friday night, I believe it was, and went to work Monday morning at the Buena Vista paper which was the News and County Press. I worked there for four years and then on a Tuesday night, deadline night, they called us in and said 'we're having to change things up. We're not going to be a weekly anymore. We're going to just be a freebie.' So they were cutting their staff. Wednesday was my day off. On Thursday I went to the employment office. They sent me here on Friday. Jim Dedrick called me on Sunday to come to work Monday. So I've never been unemployed!
What made you stay here instead of looking for another job?
I just really like what I do. It’s fun, it's different all the time, and the Paxtons have always been very, what's the word, family friendly. If you needed to be off for any reason, with your kids, or bring your kids in for a little bit. It just worked well for me.
What kind of education or work background do you have that helps you do your job?
I did not go to college but in high school I took four years of communications, which was an introduction to electricity, to drafting, printing, and photography. I think I got that right. I really liked it, especially the printing and the photography end of it. So then I worked on the yearbook staff while I was there, too, and I just enjoyed it.
What are three things you love about working at The News-Gazette?
I like the flexibility, with time, on most days. Some days you know you have to be here. I like that it's family friendly, you know, as far as our kids - if our kids are sick, we can be off. I don't have [young] kids now but I did. I like getting to go games. I like that there's always something to do, on the photo end, and somewhere to go.
Do you have a favorite funny story from working here?
Okay, one time: we used to cut and paste everything, so we had our obituary page which had an 'Obituary' heading on it and we had the opinion page which had 'Opinion.' One of the ladies that worked here was just rushing around through it and put the 'Opinion' heading over the obituaries. So it was kind of like 'it is our opinion that these people have passed on.' I thought that was pretty funny. It was embarrassing at the time but now it's funny.
How do you feel about newspapers and journalism?
I think local newspapers especially are very important. Local news channels, like Roanoke (Channel 7 Channel 10), they'll cover a little bit of the local but they're not here all the time.
We're going to give you your news every week: what's going on in the courts and what's going on with your councils. It's also a great place to see your kids when they're playing basketball and football. You have radio, which will cover games, but you can't clip that out and save it, you know? So if you like to scrapbook, you can still get that story, get that picture, and save it for your kids. So that's where I think it's very important - to keep up with the local end of everything.
