COLUMN: After 43 years as T&D editor …

As another Orangeburg professional of the same age recently told me: “It’s been a good run.” The T&D is and has been so much of my life.

But there comes a time to step aside. That time for Lee Harter will come in November, when I will retire as editor of The T&D and state editor for parent company Lee Enterprises.

A person well known to Orangeburg will be taking the reins as editor, Gene Crider. He is an Orangeburg native, veteran T&D journalist and an excellent editor with a real knack for local news — plus a love for community. The T&D newsroom will be in good hands.

So many stories

Memories abound. So many stories to share. But the job of good editors and reporters is to communicate as concisely as possible: an economy of words. I’ll try.

1970s — You don’t learn what covering the story is like until you are thrust into the middle of a major one. Such was the case when a teenager shot at children in Santee and killed two of them. I joined a reporter in heading to the scene the day after to interview families of the children. Blood on the doorsteps of homes was visible. Emotions were high.

The resulting coverage won awards, but the primary memory is of what the experience taught a young editor about covering the difficult story — in person and in assigning others. An ensuing legal case over The T&D publishing the name of the accused resulted in a state Supreme Court ruling that overturned the prohibition on naming juvenile defendants.

1980s — Hurricane Hugo in 1989 will forever stand out. Having no power in the newsroom after the overnight storm, I took reporters outside to The T&D building’s side steps for a planning session on how we would cover what later was called “South Carolina’s storm of the century.” Off went the reporters to the hard-hit Lake Marion area and elsewhere in and around Orangeburg.

While they worked, those of us in the building were determining how we would produce a newspaper, as never missing an edition was the expectation. Thanks to a generator from the then-Orangeburg Fire Department, we powered a lamp and one desktop computer (bigger than a box of today’s laptops) and set about putting together a newspaper. While it was anything but the normal look, that day-after edition served to let the community know the scope of what had transpired and what might be expected over weeks and weeks of recovery.

A year before Hugo on July 4, 1988, an elderly man attacked the then-Orangeburg-Calhoun Law Enforcement Complex. The resulting shootout and fire amazingly left no one dead. As events unfolded, I was notified while putting on the No. 4 green at Hillcrest Golf Course: “Look at the smoke. It looks like the law complex is on fire.” No more golf that day. And since nearly all the staff was off for the holiday, the editor had to get on the front line of coverage.

1990s — Crime stands out. The years 1993 and 1994 were horrific, with a major story being the shooting death of an Orangeburg police officer, Sgt. Tommy Harrison, at Prince of Orange Mall in a case that ultimately led to the death penalty for the assailant. Several merchants were among crime victims, as were young people. Difficult times they were.

Not to be ignored are bookends to the decade: the Gulf War and Y2K with all the mystery that surrounded the countdown to Jan. 1, 2000. We made it and pushed ahead to the 21st century.

2000s — 9-11-2001 was unlike any story. The T&D published an EXTRA print edition during the day and focused heavily on finding the local connections to America’s most deadly day.

In 2007 came the Democratic presidential debate in Orangeburg, an event for which T&D coverage won state and national awards.

But the story that proved most difficult to cover was “The Great Ice Storm” of 2004: Orangeburg in darkness with tree limbs cracking and falling like leaves. The 1973 snowstorm was always called the most significant weather event of modern times locally. If not No. 1 outright, the ice storm ranks a close second.

2010s — Funny how weather seems to be such a major player in memories of big stories. The flooding of 2015 was unlike anything I had ever seen. Bridges, roads and dams were washed out from what has been called a thousand-year weather event. Hurricane Matthew hit a year later with its resulting challenges.

Then came 2018, 50 years after the Orangeburg Massacre on Feb. 8, 1968, when three students were killed and 28 others injured by state troopers opening fire on protesters at South Carolina State University seeking an end to segregation at a Russell Street bowling alley. Though I was not here in 1968, arriving 10 years later and having so many tell me over 4-1/2 decades “the real story of what happened” left no doubt why the newspaper in 1981 designated it as the top story of its first century.

2020s — Need I say more than “COVID-19”? The pandemic changed so much about the way we work in the present decade. Adaptation continues.

So much more

Before Orangeburg: Journalism must be in my blood as I served as editor of the student newspaper at Wade Hampton High School (my grandmother was adviser years before); wrote for the Hampton County Guardian as a high school student; launched a student newspaper at USC-Salkehatchie; interned and worked at The (Columbia) State and reported for the Walterboro Press and Standard while obtaining a journalism degree at USC-Columbia; then opted for Orangeburg and a chance to rebuild a newsroom at The T&D thanks to Publisher Dean B. Livingston, with whom I first interviewed at the Statehouse in 1978 while serving as a Senate page.

In Orangeburg: The early years were marked by a young editor learning so much while on the job. I was not Mr. Popularity — actually being not-so-affectionately known as “The Boy Wonder” (Joyce Milkie’s label for me) and more affectionately as “Mr. Layout” as newspaper design was my passion.

Awards: The staff has won hundreds. General excellence and public service first places are highlights, as are nearly a decade of being the “best website” among South Carolina dailies.

My favorite award memory, however, dates all the back to the start. In those days, the Associated Press News Council sponsored a contest just for S.C. dailies. The only category for an editor/designer was called “desk work.” The award annually went to larger papers, notably The Greenville News at the time. No one knew the name of the honoree in advance. When I was announced as the winner for 1979, those from other newspapers gave a 23-year-old editor a standing ovation.

Changes: I’ve seen lots of them — from “pasting up” newspaper pages to computer pagination, from photos being transmitted at a snail’s pace to information available immediately via email — and cellphones, one of the greatest tools ever for journalists.

But let’s be clear, as focused as we are today on digital, print journalism is still a passion. For an editor who loves putting a paper together by organizing and displaying content, there is nothing quite like seeing papers come off the press, particularly when there is a big story that required much work by many.

Sports: Same as with news stories, there are many, many memories: Post 4 baseball in its heyday, S.C. State football with Willie Jeffries and Buddy Pough (and serving on the Hillcrest Golf Club commission with the late President M. Maceo Nance), plus the annual Carolina-Clemson showdown.

Most special was going to the Masters Tournament during the ’80s and ’90s. I was passionate about Seve Ballesteros (I wanted to play like he did) and selfishly focused my coverage on him. Must not have been too bad, however, as the stories won a few reporting awards.

Politicians: As much as I count many of today’s elected leaders as friends and peers, there was something special for an editor in his 20s and 30s meeting somewhat regularly with now-political legends such as Strom Thurmond, Ernest Hollings, Floyd Spence and Marshall Williams. Who could ever forget Sen. Williams coming in and beginning with: “I got to talk to you boy”?

S.C. Press Association: Connection with the organization of daily and newspapers across the years began with S.C. newspaper legend Reid Montgomery, and a special memory is being selected as a pallbearer at his funeral. Same as with politicians, I became acquainted very early with seasoned S.C. media professionals.

Being elected as 1989 president of the organization at age 32 (believed to be the youngest-ever SCPA president) led to working with the longtime SCPA Executive Editor Bill Rogers in his first year after succeeding Montgomery. We learned a whole lot together, not the least of which was when to seek out veteran legal counsel Jay Bender, a legend among media lawyers.

A notable achievement was saving and relaunching the organization’s collegiate division, which would come to mean even more to me in the 21st century.

People: Here’s where I’d like to write volumes. So many, many great people have worked in Orangeburg as T&D journalists, from news and sports to editing and design. Also, advertising, business, circulation, press and mailroom, plus publishers Livingston in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s, and Cathy Hughes for more than 20 years in the new century.

I cannot start naming more names because I inevitably will fail to mention many having played a major role in the newspaper’s success across time — and in my life and career. Thank you all — including those with whom I still communicate.

The present T&D team in news and other departments has to be singled out. These are people having seen so much change, from technology to staffing. They have adapted to the changes and prospered when they could have chosen a different route. They stayed with The T&D as a career (as so many have over time) and Orangeburg owes them many thanks for keeping THE source of local news alive. I will always be most thankful for them.

Community: You cannot be a newspaper editor for more than four decades in the same community without having a love for the community and its people. No exception here. And as I have written in numerous editorials among the more than 10,000 in my time here, Orangeburg should stop beating up on itself so frequently. There is much, much to love and be proud of.

A special memory is the years in the 1990s when I partnered with civil rights icon Jim Sulton in making reality of Project Hope, an effort that brought together people focused on improving racial relations.

Claflin University: Connecting with Dr. Vermelle Johnson led to my teaching a reporting course in the fledgling Mass Communications Department in 2000. From there, I “graduated” to teaching more journalism courses, advising the student newspaper and developing young talent over the ensuing 25 years. I would not trade the experience, and working with the professionals and students is and has been gratifying. As with The T&D, trying to name names would result in missing very special people.

One note, however: A student told me about a year ago that I was the “Nick Saban” of the annual SCPA contest naming a Collegiate Journalist of the Year. An editor/reporter from The Panther, the student newspaper, has won the award in seven of the past 10 years. Unlike Saban exiting as Alabama football coach, I am not leaving Claflin behind as yet. There is more to do.

Family: I will simply say thank you to my wife (I met Pam at The T&D), two sons (Austin and Andrew) and others who understood that working as a newspaper editor often meant long hours, any hour, odd days and missed occasions. I owe them everything.

A particular point: Christmas Eve always was special in that I arrived home in the afternoon after the Christmas Day newspaper was printed early. As The T&D had no one working on Christmas Day (a great tradition), from Dec. 24 afternoon until Dec. 26 was the only time when the newspaper was “put aside.”

Summing it up: I often stated way back when that South Carolinians trained as journalists in South Carolina should remain in South Carolina to make South Carolina journalism all it can be. I am proud of my career and having spent it in Orangeburg.