Spencer Dowell/Clarendon Citizen
Citizen hits the streets as county’s new paper
After more than 30 years in the media business, Clarendon County resident Cleve Dowell, has taken a new leap into the publishing industry by starting a newspaper, the Clarendon Citizen.
“It has been my honor to be at the helm of The Manning Times for the last 11 years,” Dowell said last week. The Manning Times and Times Publishing is wholly-owned by a businessman in Alabama and I believed it was time for Clarendon County to be served by a Clarendon County publishing entity.”
Dowell has formed Citizen Media, LLC, in partnership with Jeffrey Black, Manning native and businessman. Jim Black is an investor. Citizen Media, LLC, publishes the Clarendon Citizen and ClarendonCitizen.com, with plans to expand into other endeavors.
“Since moving here 11 years ago, Cleve and Carol Dowell have given so much to Clarendon County … Habitat for Humanity, Striped Bass Festival, Summerton Rotary Club, the Cypress Foundation of Clarendon Memorial and much more,” Black said. “They have always dreamed of owning a newspaper, being accountable to the citizens they serve, instead of to an out-of-state publishing company. My dad and I are investing in the Clarendon Citizen because we believe in Cleve and Carol, we believe in their great staff, and we believe in the value of locally-owned businesses.”
Dowell and Black have previously joined forces in the acquisition and renovation of several downtown buildings, including the current home of The Manning Times, formerly the historic Central Coffee Shop.
“We are honoring our lease with Times Publishing and will temporarily house the Citizen at 17 West Boyce Street,” Black added. “It is important to us to continue to be a presence in the county seat’s downtown commercial corridor.”
The Clarendon Citizen is a freely distributed, once-a-week publication. It will be delivered to city and rural U.S. Mail routes in the Manning, Summerton, Turbeville, Alcolu and Paxville areas and will be available free at many rack locations throughout the entire county.
“We believe that every square mile of Clarendon County is important and we will strive to give the entire county the coverage it deserves,” Dowell said.
“In the Clarendon Citizen, we look to combine traditional newspaper elements like hard news, editorials, weddings, obituaries, sports and outdoor stories with the popular features that highlight the good news about the diverse citizens of our county,” Black said.
The staff of the Citizen will include many familiar Clarendon County faces.
Joanne Taylor will serve as marketing director and Cathy Gilbert will be the managing editor. Carol Dowell will oversee business services with the assistance of Betty Usry. Carl Jackson Jr. and Iva Jean De Oliveira will be the Citizen graphic designers. Carolyn Young will distribute the Citizen. Readers will continue to enjoy the contributions of Scott Conant on sports, Terry Madewell on outdoors and Sandi Tucker on the Citizen Cooks page. Dr. Beryl Keith and Elaine Woods will contribute their talents with their popular “Ask the Doc” and “Mental Health Moment” contributions. Manning photography professionals Larry Hewett and Sam Levy will also contribute their talents.
Added to the Clarendon Citizen masthead will be Joe Dowell who will manage Internet marketing for the newspaper.
“No media outlet is complete today without a presence on the Web,” said Joe Dowell. “We will be working hard to mix traditional newspaper readers with those who have a daily connection to the Internet. This type of ‘new media’ presents a wide range of opportunities for readers and advertisers.”
Dowell said he chose the name Clarendon Citizen because he and Black truly want the paper to reflect the character of the entire county.
“We will have an advisory board comprised of leaders from all areas and all segments of the community from business to education to healthcare to the faith-based community,” he explained. “These fine folks will be extra sets of eyes and ears as we set our editorial objectives.”
“We also want to give groups from the garden clubs to Weldon Auditorium to Turbeville’s Ruritans a place to share their news and events,” Black added. “I appreciate CNN and online news, but a locally-owned, community newspaper such as the Clarendon Citizen is the only place to find the kind of news that a community hungers for these days.”
