Missouri Press Insider: Mark Evans

Who owns the newspapers? In September, Better Newspapers, Inc., sold us and their other seven Missouri papers to Paxton Media Group (PMG). We are in the process of learning a whole new system, which involves turning in stories to a central pagination hub.

Circulation/Issues per week/publication day(s): The Ste. Genevieve Herald is a weekly paper with a Wednesday edition of 1,500 circulation.

Staff: Our staff recently dropped down to two, myself and my sports editor/associate editor, Michael Boyd, Jr. (This is total, not just editorial.)

Population of counties: As of 2020, Ste. Genevieve County had 18,749 residents and the city of Ste. Genevieve just under 5,000. This is why we have been able to maintain very little retail establishments or restaurants over the years.

Is the community growing, declining, or holding steady? The county and city have essentially been holding steady for 60 years or so. The city has actually gained a little. The biggest problem for years has been lack of available housing. Our biggest employers have to look out of county to find workers, but those wishing to move here have trouble finding homes. We finally have a new subdivision about to be built, which will add 150-plus new houses.

Your greatest challenge: Finding feature stories has been a challenge. I’ve been tied up covering meetings and doing pagination, plus I’m not a super social person. Our sports editor is usually tied up with sports.

Newspaper’s biggest strength: We have been here since May 6, 1882 and have tried to be an honest source of news, keeping an eye on local government and providing good sports and news coverage of our two local high schools, etc.

Newspaper’s biggest weakness or obstacle to overcome: We had a full-time staff of seven when I returned in 2016 (I had been sports editor here in the late 1990s.). Now we have two. Manpower has been one of our biggest issues for several years.

Your family: Basically none left. I was always too nerdy to attract a spouse. I have two elderly aunts left, who have been leery of having out of town visitors since the rise of COVID, plus a lot of cousins I haven’t seen in 10+ years. It’s just me and my very spoiled cat, Ginger Grant.

Your hobbies/interests: I write fiction. My dream/goal is still to be traditionally published. In recent years I’ve written a Christian historical adventure romance novel, set in 1927 and a steampunk novel, set in 1883. Additionally, I’ve self-published five young adult Christian novels and am working on a sixth.

I also self-published a Ste. Genevieve house tour book and co-authored a coffee table book on the town’s history, architecture and culture.

I have played APBA baseball for 50 years, now using the computer version. I spent several years in “retro” email leagues, drafting teams in a certain season (i.e., 1955) and maintaining the team year to year.

I enjoy reading, watching movies and in the past year have become addicted to watching movie and music reaction videos on YouTube. (Coke Zero is my other addiction.)

List something that is interesting or unusual about you: If it weren’t for a lifelong speech impediment, I might well be a college history professor today. I could list every President of the United States and tell what years they were in office, when I was in second grade. I got my BA in history at Central Methodist, then years later, went back and got my MA in history at Southeast Mo. State. (My thesis was titled “Armor’s Troubled Adolescence: Analyzing Influences on the Development of U.S. Tank Strategy, 1919-1941.”)

I served as a volunteer church youth leader most of the 1990s in Bonne Terre, Poplar Bluff and Cape Girardeau.

Also, I survived a major stroke in May 2008, losing only some fine motor skill in my left hand (Typing is a challenge now.) and only missing about six weeks of work. (Otherwsie, I’ve probably only used about four sick days in 40 years.)

What is your favorite journalism accomplishment? I won first place for best sports coverage, small dailies in Missouri (at the Daily Dunklin Democrat in Kennett) in 1990, in Oklahoma (Blackwell Journal-Tribune) in 2005 and for bi-weeklies (Sequoyah County Times) in 2015. I also won first place for photos in 1993 and 2024 and we took first place here at the Herald in General Excellence in 2022.

My top thrill was getting to interview one of the surviving Wizard of Oz Munchkins (Mickey Carroll) in my first Ste. Genevieve go-round in 1997 and photograph him dancing with a young girl and singing “We’re off to see the wizard.”

If you weren’t an editor or a publisher, what do you think you would be doing? Truthfully, I’d probably be in the unemployment line.