Editorial: The Record of the area’s best newspaper

Thursday, March 2, 2023 – the day the light went out in Canadian.

There wasn’t a power failure or an eclipse or anything of the sort. No, it was a different kind of darkness that fell over the city. The light of truth and fairness and justice went out.

After 132 years, The Canadian Record published its last issue. Well, “suspended publication” is the phrase that was used – holding out hope that the paper might yet have a rebirth. Still, the fact remains, Canadian is without a newspaper.

The Canadian Record – for 75 years under the guidance of the Ezzell family – was the best weekly newspaper in the Panhandle. Period. Some might even say it was the best in Texas, and I wouldn’t argue with them. It was the gold standard of community journalism doing all the things that a weekly newspaper does best – be a cheerleader for its town, holding elected officials accountable, and zealously reporting the local news from City Hall to the elementary school.

Laurie Ezzell Brown, who has published and edited the paper since her father passed away some 30 years ago, was and is a close friend of mine. We are two sides of the same coin. She is an unapologetic liberal Democrat and I’m a libertarian Reagan Republican. But we have always been united on the things that mattered – open government, transparency, and the public’s right to know. I know a lot of small-town journalists, but Laurie Brown is the best. When I’ve had tough stories to cover, it was her who I would turn to for advice and counsel. And I could count on her to tell me what I needed to know, whether I was going to like it or not.

It was Laurie and her advertising manager Mary Smithee who I always looked forward to seeing at press conventions. Over the years, they became like extended family members. The newspaper family is like none other, bonding over getting the big scoop or swapping tales of crazy public meetings.

Just a couple of weeks ago, the Cub Reporter was in Canadian for a tennis match and the team went for a coffee. Brown Bag Roasters is run by Laurie’s son and is right next door to the newspaper in Canadian. The Record staff saw Ben walk by, snatched him from the coffee shop, and pulled him into the newspaper to say hello and catch up with him. I think he was both startled and happy to see them.

Through good times and bad, Laurie Brown, like her father before her, bravely recorded the happenings in Canadian fairly and accurately. It was right there in black and white; and you didn’t have to like it, but it was the truth. Some people can’t handle the truth, and that can bring unwanted repercussions. Any good newspaper has had to deal with that, and the Record is certainly no different.

When Laurie wanted to share her personal thoughts, you could find those clearly labeled on page two of the Record in her “Field Notes” column. She wasn’t afraid to let you know what she thought on the opinion page; but when you turned past page two, it was unbiased reporting, and the readers were given as much information as possible to make up their own minds.

Laurie has been trying to sell her paper for several years, but she did not want to sell to just anyone or to some group that would strip the Record of its soul for profit. The job of a community editor can wear on you, and it’s worn on her to the point she can no longer do it. With no buyer, she reluctantly closed the doors.

The Record lives on for now as a social media and web presence, but it’s not the same. It’s not the same as having the paper – in either a physical or digital format – to record kids’ latest school project, to celebrate the state championships, to uncover what’s happening at City Hall, to hold commissioners’ feet to the fire, or to rally the community around a worthwhile project.

Businesses in Canadian that have depended on the Record to help get their message to their customers will feel the newspaper’s absence, and taxpayers, too, will be losers without a paper help them keep tabs on local governments.
What will become of the public notices that once were published in the Record? I suppose the city and the county and the school there will put those up on their websites when it’s time to raise taxes or call for a bond election. The people of Canadian will just have to trust that their officials are telling them the truth, because there won’t be a third party to verify anything. It will be the fox guarding the henhouse. What could go wrong?

At the Enterprise, our hearts are broken both for the people of Canadian, for the Record staff, and for Laurie personally. We can only imagine what it must feel like to sign “30” to the newspaper itself and lay down the pen after decades of service. We will miss their influence and the constant push they gave us all to do better and be better. We are eternally grateful for the friendship, the example, and the high standards they shared with us. Thank you, our friends, for everything.