VIDEO: The Calhoun County Journal Turns 65

CALHOUN COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- The Calhoun County Journal is celebrating a birthday this week.

The paper has withstood some tough times through the years, all under the supervision of one single family.

They say that the newspaper is a dying art form, however, one area family is overcoming the odds, even after 65 years.

“I really never thought about it, in those terms, but I’m not surprised,” says the previous Calhoun County Journal owner Jo Ann Denley.

“I don’t guess I ever thought about it that way. I guess my grandparents and maybe my dad did but I always thought I’d be somewhere else, yet here I am,” says the journal’s owner Lisa Denley Mcneece.

Mother and daughter- two out of the three generations that have run the Calhoun County Journal.

“My father in law and my mother in law started the paper, along with my husband- my husband was 17 years old,” says Denley.

Jo Anne Denley’s husband, Gale Denley, worked at the paper his entire life before passing away at 72.

He raised his two daughters, Lisa and Celia, in that newsroom and taught them all he knew, and most importantly being transparent to their subscribers.

“I think one of the most important things we do here, is tell the history of this community, the good and the bad. We try to find things that engage younger people for instance the instagram has been so popular for us, the twitter!” says Mcneece.

Throughout the years, their readers have been their biggest fans.

“They eagerly brought us news stories from around the area,” says Denley.

When people say the newspaper business is a dying art, what’s your take on that?-  “My take on it is, if you’re a good newspaper people are going to read it,” says Denley.

In this weeks edition of the Calhoun County Journal, Lisa wrote a special column dedicated to her grandfather all about the startup of the newspaper.