By Justin Averette

The Selma Times-Journal

 

I’m coming back to where it all started. I spent the first month of my life in Selma. My twin brother Joseph and I were born in 1984 at Vaughan Regional Medical Center.

We were six weeks premature. Despite being the firstborn, I was the smallest, tipping the scales at 3 pounds and 10 ounces.

My brother and I stayed at Vaughan for 22 days before we were able to go home to Greensboro. Though it’s taken me a while, I’m glad to be back in Selma as editor of this newspaper.

The Selma Times-Journal is Alabama’s oldest daily newspaper and one of its best too. I’m humbled and excited to join the staff here.

My first newspaper job was as school newsletter reporter for Mrs. Jay’s class at Greensboro West Elementary School. As I grew older, I started writing articles for The Greensboro Watchman and the ink got in my blood as the saying goes.

When I went to college, I decided to study journalism and English at the University of Montevallo.

After I graduated in 2006, I started as a staff writer at the Shelby County Reporter in Columbiana. While there I worked under Tim Prince, the son of former Selma Times-Journal Publisher H. Shelton Prince.

Three years later, I got the change to go to The Clanton Advertiser as managing editor. Another three years took me to The Demopolis Times, where I have served as publisher since 2012.

In my role at Demopolis, I have worked closely with publisher Dennis Palmer and other STJ employees.

While in Demopolis, I had the opportunity serve on the board of directors for the Demopolis Area Chamber of Commerce and the Two Rivers Arts Council.

I was also a member of the Demopolis Rotary Club and Trinity Episcopal Church.

This year I’ve served as president of the Alabama Press Association’s Journalism Foundation, which supports journalism education through scholarships, grants to university and high school newspapers and internships.

I also volunteer with Kairos of Alabama, an ecumenical ministry that works in prisons across the world. I’m sure I’ll talk about our work in future columns, but Kairos has given me the chance to minister to inmates at Donaldson Correctional Facility near Bessemer, on Alabama’s death row and in Costa Rican prisons.

I’ve lived in some great communities during my career, and I look forward to getting involved in Selma and Dallas County.

Selma is a unique blend of past and present. I look forward to chronicling its future while learning more about its history.

If you need anything related to STJ, please don’t hesitate to contact me.