Interview with Stan Portman

Title: Interview with Stan Portman Identifier: 1980oh170 Date: 1980-05-22 Interviewer: William Berge Project: Kentucky Newspaper Editors Project

The following is an unrehearsed taped interview with Mr. Stan Portman, editor of the Franklin Favorite, in Simpson County, Kentucky. The interview was conducted by William Berge, for the Oral History Center at Eastern Kentucky University. The interview was conducted in Mr. Portman's office in Franklin, Kentucky, on May 22, 1980, at 2:30 p.m.

Berge: Mr. Portman, I want to thank you for letting me come in here today. I know that you're awful busy and had to go out and everything, but it's really a...a help for me to get to talk with you. Let's start talking with you about yourself. Tell me your name, your full name and when you were born and where and that type thing.

Portman: All right, Stan Portman...uh...1929 in Lexington.

Berge: In time for the...

Portman: Right, the Depression.

Berge: Depression.

Portman: Right, my sister and I were Depression babies.

Berge: You're fifty then, I guess.

Portman: Right, fifty-one to be technical, but...uh...

Berge: Oh, you... So you were born early in '29 then, huh?

Portman: Right. And, uh...uh...you'd be interested, I'm the son of a professor 1:00who taught journalism at UK...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...and you can see I followed into the business.

Berge: Oh, that's...that's your father.

Portman: Right.

Berge: Well, I didn't know that.

Portman: And, his dad was a pharmacist and a journalist also.

Berge: Uh...what was your...uh...just give me your mother and father's names so I'll have it for the records.

Portman: All right. Dad is Victor Rob Portman.

Berge: Um-hum.

Portman: And my mother is Katherine Laura Joslyn Portman.

Berge: Joslyn. Is that her maiden name?

Portman: Right. Both of 'em are native Minnesotians.

Berge: Uh-huh. How do you spell Joslyn?

Portman: J-O-S-L-Y-N.

Berge: Uh-huh. As a...as a...as a young person, even though your father taught...uh...journalism, did you really think you'd be...uh...in it?

Portman: I was...uh...very much in it. Uh... I think it might be interesting, I started working as a printer's devil when I was fourteen.

Berge: Where?

Portman: At the University of Kentucky Press.

Berge: Um-hum.

Portman: And, uh...when I was barely out of high school, just barely seventeen, 2:00I enlisted in the Army and spent two years in the Army, more than a year overseas. And, uh...when I got back...really I was sort of inter...interested in engineering.

Berge: You're talking about the late '40s now?

Portman: Right. Uh...

Berge: Right after the war?

Portman: In fact, I got back in '49.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: I was interested in engineering. Uh, two things stopped me. The...the field was glutted and the other I didn't have a good enough background in...

Berge: In math? [Laughing]

Portman: And may have been smarted enough to realize it. And, I...uh...I feel like I made a personal mistake in going to UK where I'd been raised as a university brat.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And...uh...had all the associations connected with my father being a...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...faculty member, particularly in journalism.

Berge: Did you go to University High?

Portman: Uh, no. I went to Laf...Lexington Lafayette.

Berge: You went to Lafayette.

Portman: And, uh...I, of course, I had the G.I. Bill, and I should have used it to go somewhere else but I took the lazy man's route [he pronounced it 3:00root]...or route, as the case may be. And, uh...uh...I went through the journalism curricular with a major in...uh...journalism and a minor in radio.

Berge: At UK?

Portman: At UK.

Berge: When did you finish there?

Portman: 1953.

Berge: And, then what is the first job you took?

Portman: Well, I went with the state. Uh... Interesting maybe for your type of thing. Uh...uh...Bo McMillan from Morehead and myself did the...uh...publicity, propaganda, whatever you want to call it, to amend Section...uh...186 of the Constitution, which, of course, led to the minimum foundation program.

Berge: Who'd you work for when you were up there?

Portman: Uh...Bo directly, but Wendell Butler was the...uh...superintendent of education.

Berge: So, you were in the Department of Education.

Portman: Right. And, incidentally...uh...every one of Wendell's lieutenants eventually became a university president.

Berge: Martin and...

Portman: Right on.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: Uh...Ho...(?Hoke?)...Doran...

Berge: And, did you work with Martin when you were up there?

Portman: I was associated very closely with him. Uh...I was on the, uh...in the 4:00capitol building. Uh, Governor Weatherby's office was...uh...adjacent and the education department was adjacent. And, I was very closely associated with them.

Berge: So, you knew all those people?

Portman: Yes, sir.

Berge: That was very...probably pretty good experience, wasn't it? Doing that kind of writing?

Portman: Very much so. And, of course, the...uh...the crux is the fact that for whatever reason the amendment passed. And, I think the most important one to education in Kentucky.

Berge: Oh, yeah. There's no doubt about that. That kind of writing is probably not bad experience for a journalist either, is it?

Portman: No. It's...it's good except that you're doing what I call propaganda. And, uh...naturally, you're slanting...you've got a...uh...uh...a goal. And, it...

Berge: But, you learn how to use the words though.

Portman: Right. It's really not pure, idealistic journalism.

Berge: Oh, no, no. But, it...

Portman: But, the job is...

Berge: But, the writing is...

Portman: Right.

Berge: ...probably good experience.

Portman: And...

Berge: How long did you stay up there?

Portman: I was there a little over nine months.

Berge: Uh-huh. And, then what did you do?

Portman: All right. Uh, I was back home, uh...also I like to say drinking my 5:00father's beer and...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...irritating his temper. And...uh...through his...uh... Dad was executive secretary of the Kentucky Press Association for many years, and the people at the Franklin Favorite...uh...called and they needed a person, and it just so happened that part of their dream was starting a radio station. And, I had a little smattering of training in both. So, uh...I came down. I interviewed. Uh... The editor publisher at the time was L.L. Valentine, a gentleman who I respect as probably one of the most...uh...brilliant, knowledgeable persons I've ever been...uh...it's been a pleasure to associate with.

Berge: How long were you with him?

Portman: And...uh... Val left about five years ago on retirement.

Berge: Uh-huh. So, you spent...good part...

Portman: Right.

Berge: ...of your life then with him?

Portman: Absolutely. And, uh...Val had the vision and the...uh...uh...saw the future so well and outlined it to me as a little...uh, well, I wasn't too young 6:00then but I was certainly inexperienced. Uh... This was also the beginning of the industrial revolution in Franklin and Simpson County, which prior to that was totally dependent on agriculture.

Berge: And, now they've got a lot of industry, haven't they?

Portman: We have a...the most beautiful balance of industry, agriculture and services...I believe it's as near ideal as you can get it.

Berge: Tell me this, you...now you'd be a good one to speak this because you're from a family that was involved in academic journalism. Where'd you learn more? Here or at UK?

Portman: Well, first, I'll...I'll hedge a little on that. Dad was a community journalism specialist.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...

Berge: So you had a little bit of different...

Portman: Many...many of his students has said that...uh...they...they got more from his classes than any they had there at UK or anywhere else. Uh... Dad's experience was...uh...vast in small town...really bitty, bitty, bitty small town journalism.

Berge: [Unclear] weeklies, probably.

Portman: And, then daily news and then he did some...uh...uh...he was a campaign associate of a governor.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: A man who ran for governor in...uh...Minnesota. And, he was in...uh...PIO. And, uh...so I...I feel like that I owe a great deal of anything I do know to Dad. But, I'm sure you're aware that university education is a long way from applying to practical...uh...circumstances when you get out. For instance, uh...I still...uh...go back and what we call stuff papers, help assimilate papers, uh...when we have press runs. And, uh...we call ourselves editor, publisher, and janitor, etc., etc. And, uh...I think I'm...I'm sold on community journalism. Uh, I've had my chances elsewhere, to go elsewhere. Uh, I 8:00was fortunate enough when I was here two years...uh...they offered me a healthy block of stock at a very...uh...premium rate. I'm still a child's owner of a...child's portion owner of both businesses, the radio and the...uh...newspaper.

Berge: Oh, so you are involved in the ownership?

Portman: And, uh...I do own a child's portion. And, uh...frankly I ...I...I think there's nothing better than community journalism.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: In a role of...of service. Certainly I wouldn't advise anybody to get in it to get rich.

Berge: Who owns this...besi...what kind of...local ownership is it.

Portman: Well, when...uh...Valentine and Howard Ogles, who were the major stockholders, retired...

Berge: O-G-L-E-S?

Portman: O-G-L-E-S. Right. Howard Ogles. Uh, the controlling interest of stock was bought by Dear Publications...

Berge: Oh, yeah. From Henderson?

Portman: At Henderson. And, uh...this particular business...uh...owns the newspaper and the radio here and the newspaper at Portland, Tennessee.

Berge: Yeah, I knew that.

Portman: Which is a neighboring...uh...community. And, then Dear Publications I think now has...uh...three dailies and eight weeklies and this happens to be the only radio property, although the entire group is interested in radio...uh...as a potential. We're uh...we're...

Berge: This is the second place I've been where the radio station and the...and the newspaper were together. The other one was up in...uh...Central City, I guess.

Portman: Right. Probably Larry and Enos Stone.

Berge: Yeah. Uh-huh.

Portman: You got a character with Larry, didn't you?

Berge: Um-hum.

Portman: Yeah, Larry is a ooollllddd throwback journalist.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: Delightful fellow. Uh, that's about it. Uh...as I say, uh... I...I'm sold on it. Uh, I would rather...uh...uh...make my...uh...my place in this kind of a community. I think it's excellent for my children. Uh, we have a superb 10:00school system. We don't have the big city hassles. And, I'm a golfer, and I can walk to the front tee in ten minutes from my home. And, those are some of the things that...uh...help convince me. Besides, I'm not a big city oriented.

Berge: Now, now it occurs to me though, when you were in the College of Journalism at UK it was more practically oriented than it is now.

Portman: I really can't comment on that. Uh, I would say...

Berge: This is second hand with me...

Portman: Um-hum.

Berge: ... 'cause I just hear it from people that I...

Portman: I would say that the overall curricula is probably better now simply because everything's better.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh... But, I would say that the practical...I...I...I got nearly every bit of my practical experience from...uh...the courses that the community specialist taught, which happened to be my old man.

Berge: Yeah, uh-huh. Tell me this now, is this an old paper?

Portman: Yes, 1857.

Berge: Oh, dear. It is old then, isn't it?

Portman: Yes, it's...uh...really got a rich history.

Berge: Is it...is... There's no other paper in the county, now, I take it.

Portman: No...uh... No other paper. No other radio station.

Berge: How long since there's been another paper in this county?

Portman: It's been many years.

Berge: Before your time?

Portman: Oh, yes. Uh, I would estimate...uh...that it would probably be fifty, fifty-five years. And, I believe that the...that the Favorite absorbed a com...a competitor then, but I'm not too...uh...up on that history.

Berge: That's an interesting name for a paper. The Franklin Favorite.

Portman: It is indeed. And, uh...uh...the paper...it's still basically the same one that as sophisticated college...college students we used to like to read and giggle about...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...community personals...and, uh...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...that sort of thing. But, and it's still a...

Berge: It's what people like though.

Portman: ...an important background to my paper. Uh, people...uh...like that sort of thing.

Berge: Tell me this...uh, what...what day do you get the paper out?

Portman: All right. Uh...we go to press late Wednesday afternoon with a Thursday dateline. I have three other...uh, two other newspapers that I run 12:00Wednesday. So, I run a total of...uh...three newspapers and about a total of something like eighty pages in this one day.

Berge: You run the Portland paper and your paper and what other one?

Portman: And the Scottsville Citizen Times.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...during school we run the College Heights Herald.

Berge: Oh.

Portman: Which is a...a fine contract for us. And, that's Western Kentucky University.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: You know, but maybe your...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...uh...listener doesn't know.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...then we...

Berge: That's a weekly, too, isn't it?

Portman: Right.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh... The College Heights Herald is a bi-weekly.

Berge: Oh, yeah. That's right. Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...for...for your record...uh...we were...

Berge: How long have you had that contract?

Portman: Uh... Twelve or fourteen, let's see. I take it back...contracts...over twelve years.

Berge: Huh. Huh.

Portman: And, uh...uh... Well I had a thought there, but I lost it. But, at any rate, uh...we also do what we call commercial web printing

Berge: Um-hum. Um-hum. Uh, the...the...you don't do the old fashioned job 13:00printing any...

Portman: No. Uh... We are associated with a business that does.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh...in fact, one of my pressmen is now...uh...running one of the...uh...uh...job shops here in the community.

Berge: The...uh...what's your circulation?

Portman: Uh, forty-seven hundred, but we're...we're pushing five thousand now with a little circulation drive.

Berge: Well, that's good. What was it when you came here?

Portman: I would guess that probably in the two thousand range.

Berge: So, it's been a steady growth.

Portman: It's been a most steady growth with...along with the community.

Berge: I...I noticed that in today's...the paper I was looking at it out there.

Portman: Yes, sir.

Berge: Uh... That you have...uh...some...uh...things in there from places like, well, Ben Snyder's and that. Is that because of the new thing in Lex...in Bowling Green?

Portman: Yes, sir. That is the ...uh...new mall in Bowling Green.

Berge: So that's going to be a boon to you, too?

Portman: Right.

Berge: In addition to the Bowling Green paper, won't it?

Portman: Right. Uh, we...uh... We have been very successful. Uh...uh...I'm not sure our local merchants...uh...like this. But, uh...uh...we also are having a 14:00new...uh...Wal-mart coming to this community, which will be a...uh...

Berge: Uh...it'll be a weekly thing probably.

Portman: ...a boon to both the community and, of course, to the...uh...communication business.

Berge: Probably be an ad every week. A page or a couple...

Portman: Uh... We hope so.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: And, some circulars. And flyers.

Berge: Sure.

Portman: What have you.

Berge: Are those circulars and flyers...is that good income?

Portman: Very important to us now.

Berge: Is it as good...is it as good as a page in the paper?

Portman: Uh. It's relatively...relative because...uh...uh...for...for instance, a full page in the paper...

Berge: It's easier for you to put it up and everything, isn't it?

Portman: We have a...a rate, but we produce it, print it, etc., etc. Uh... These inserts come in from...uh...farmed out printing companies, of course, with much vaster printing facilities...

Berge: Sure.

Portman: ...than we do. And, actually we charge what it costs us to mail it, plus a premium for the association with the prestige of the paper, and then...

Berge: And insertion labor.

Portman: Right.

Berge: Uh-huh. So that's easier money and even though it's...

Portman: Yes, sir. It is...it is indeed. It's uh...it's uh...very good money 15:00for us.

Berge: Uh-huh. What...what papers come in here and compete with you.

Portman: Uh... The Daily News at Bowling Green is a competitor. The...uh...Nashville papers, the Banner and the Tennessean, are competitors. The...uh...Courier-Journal is a fading competitor.

Berge: Boy it really is.

Portman: Uh... Because of its state edition...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...which...uh...can best be described as lousy and...

Berge: Um-hum.

Portman: ...uh...getting worse over time.

Berge: You...you're not the first one to say it.

Portman: But, those principally are the papers. The community papers...uh...do not actively compete.

Berge: You really... You don't have any competition actually for what you do.

Portman: No, sir. That...that's right.

Berge: I mean, you have a different kind of product and...

Portman: Right.

Berge: ...it's avowedly that.

Portman: Uh...our competition, uh...of course, comes from...uh...the...the television, uh...other radio stations, primarily, and it's competitive. Uh, we have to keep our...uh...skirts clean, and, of course, we have to produce and, uh...I'm proud to say we do produce for advertisers and that's the name of the game.

Berge: What are...what have been the advantages and disadvantages for you being 16:00associated with...uh...an organization like...uh...Dear Publishing compared to the way you were when you were just locally owned?

Portman: Only in the business end of it. For instance, all of our payrolls are computerized now. Uh... We have a...uh...pension plan through the entire chain. We have a self-funding major medical through the entire chain. Uh... So, on the business end of it, it is a tremendous advantage.

Berge: Ad...advantageous for you, then.

Portman: Let me add one thing. Uh... There is no interference...uh...from upstairs as we'll call it, provided the...the, uh...publishing or the editorial...uh...opinions of the paper. Uh... Just absolutely no heat. And, in the first place, I wouldn't...uh...accept...uh...unacceptable heat. And, they don't put pressure on you. Uh... Frankly, they look at the bottom line.

Berge: And...and they...and they...and they know that if this is going to work 17:00it has to be community oriented. Is that...

Portman: Yes, they're...they're wise enough to know that it is exactly what you said...a...a paper representing a very...uh...definitely defined community. Period.

Berge: How often do you see those people from up there?

Portman: We...uh...have a...uh...uh...uh...business adviser that comes down maybe...uh...every three months if necessary.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh... Depending on major decisions. Uh...uh... Also the publisher will come by four or five times a year. Uh...uh...publisher may not be the right word...uh...Walt Dear, who is...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...the...uh...president of Dear Publications, uh...he'll come by and we have...uh...uh...one board meeting...uh...per year. And, now and then, several calls depending on...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...the importance of it.

Berge: Uh-huh. But...uh... I...I guess you're...what you're saying, though, is editorially the paper's still yours then.

Portman: Oh, yes. Uh... I'd say the association with Henderson could be reduced 18:00to bottom line.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: The old dollar.

Berge: Yeah. Uh-huh. And, as long as you keep putting out the product and people keep buying it, that's...

Portman: That's the name of the game.

Berge: Uh... What kind of a circulation program do you have? You said you have one going on now.

Portman: The one we're doing currently...uh...is...uh...a...a young lady calling nonsubscribers.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...actually she's calling all homes in a certain area. Uh, of course, and if a person is not a subscriber, we offer them a special inducement to become a subscriber. We've been doing this with...uh...three young ladies working part time for approximately thirty days, and we figure we've picked up about 300 new subscriptions, uh...which would, of course, push our circulation into the 5,000 mark. To this date, subs...shortly before that we also did a little...uh...uh...Susan B. Anthony Dollar promotion where if the person bought 19:00a subscription they got...uh...an Anthony Dollar back.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: That was a small inducement, uh...but this one is working right well.

Berge: Is this thing worked as...better than you thought it would or about as good?

Portman: Well, I'm a cynic in a lot of ways. And, uh...it's probably...uh...about what I expected.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: I...I think you...when you've spent 27 years in...in the business right here, not elsewhere...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...that you sort of have a...a...a feel for just exactly how this, that, and the other's going to work.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh... Some of the idealism gets stomped out of you for sure.

Berge: I have an idea that someone like yourself, though, figures in the final analysis the product is what's going to keep...put the circulation up eventually.

Portman: Only...only thing we can sell is the product. And, quite proudly...uh...uh...naturally our radio station has much more competition - direct competition - than we do.

Berge: Oh, yeah.

Portman: And, uh...our...our pride and joy is...uh...news rooms, which 20:00incidentally are combined, the newspaper and the radio newsrooms are combined, and we produce news.

Berge: So really, you have like a...a daily news function even though you're a weekly newspaper.

Portman: Absolutely. The radio is a up-to-the-minute news function. Uh...uh... Our major news cast will have...uh...anywhere from ten to fifteen minutes of strictly local news then the state, national, and other news...uh...we'll program at other times. It's our selling point.

Berge: This is really not in...uh...what I'm talking about, but do you think that maybe your...uh...station does more with news than a lot of local radio stations?

Portman: Oh, absolutely. It's...uh...head and shoulders, and, incidentally, in the Associated Press...uh...uh... broadcasters contest in the last four or five years the station has won the Sweepstakes...uh...all but this year when they 21:00eliminated the Sweepstakes and they won...uh...three first and three seconds and they probably got...uh...station probably has now accumulated something like 25 or 30 first places in its class.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Which is 20,000...cities of 20,000 and under.

Berge: Uh-huh. And, do you think it's probably because of the association with the paper that's made that radio station that way? More than if it was just the radio station setting out somewhere...

Portman: It's both, and...uh...really...uh...our news sources develop with the radio because they work the spot story to be immediately broadcast on the air.

Berge: Hm-hum.

Portman: Then their stuff comes into newspaper rewrite and we work it from there. And, of course if newspaper gets...uh...a scoop so to speak, with a weekly we can't hold scoops. We cannot sit on scoops. So, therefore, the radio station gets it and...uh...but, I certainly couldn't relegate our radio to a 22:00back seat because it is vitally important to our news operation.

Berge: What's your call letters?

Portman: WFKN.

Berge: WFKN.

Portman: Yes, sir.

Berge: Uh... Let's get back to newspaper now. About how big is your newspaper generally?

Portman: Uh... Today, counting inserts, we had...uh...what we call 46 broadsheets.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Forty-six full-size pages. We did have...uh...three inserts, which...uh...were...totaled...uh...24 broad.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: So...so, our display paper was about...uh...four pages under its average week.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: But, one of the inserts we had was our own production.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: A home improvement section, so...uh...of course, that 16 pages tab or eight page broad actually pushed me over my normal budget.

Berge: Yeah. So you usually run between like 24 to 30.

Portman: Twenty-eight pages is...is the...uh...average paper.

Berge: That's a good size paper then.

Portman: Very good size paper.

Berge: Uh... How do you run...what percentage of advertising do you run? Do you keep that where you want it?

Portman: Yes, uh...we usually run, hopefully, something like 60/40.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...that's the advertising on the long side.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Of course, uh...we have to very careful not to violate Post Office regulations.

Berge: Oh, I...I understand. But, you can get it up...

Portman: And...

Berge: ...you can get it up over that some, I'm sure.

Portman: I do a monthly Post Office report where our advertising volume to news is somewhere in that 60 to 50 range.

Berge: Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And...and, you can live with that, I guess then?

Portman: Oh, yes. We can live with that.

Berge: OK.

Portman: Uh...Henderson may not live with it, but we do. [Laughing]

Berge: Hm-hum. What...uh...what type of news do you print? Do you...uh...print all court records and that kind of thing?

Portman: Yes, uh... We have...uh...uh...complete courthouse coverage. We do not publish...uh...police blotters.

Berge: In other words, DU...DWIs and stuff like that.

Portman: Right. We... I tell you I found this out...

Berge: When did you stop doing...did you always...did you...have you always not done this?

Portman: Oh...oh, no. We...we've done this. I found this out, that 24:00people...that may be the first thing they read until it's one of them or one of theirs...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...and then it's...uh... "dirty word" to pay. And, I...I've been...had people offer to beat me to death, shoot me, uh...bribe me, uh... all sorts of threats and curses. And, uh, people object to, like property transfers. They say that's my own blankety, blank, blank, blank business. However, you can go and get it off the court records, and if not that the tax stamps will show you how much was paid. But, uh...we...we cover the hard news, but...uh...sort of ignore the, I guess, gossipy type of...of...of thing that we...we find...uh...uh...

Berge: Some editors say...

Portman: Infuriates.

Berge: Some editors say if you print those things you got to print every one of 'em.

Portman: Right. That...that's been our policy...uh...

Berge: One guy said his name was in there three weeks in a row.

Portman: Right.

Berge: D-W-I.

Portman: We...uh...we've had experiences. We ran a DW on a bank president. 25:00Uh...We've run the editor's, which happens to be myself, DW...no that was a speeding violation.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: It wasn't quite that bad. But, when we had the policy of running them, we ran 'em all. Period.

Berge: Uh-huh. You've got to do that though, don't you?

Portman: Absolutely. The one slip and you're a dead duck.

Berge: So, I would say...I guess then what you're saying is because you are a community newspaper, and you feel a community involvement, that there are certain things like that you don't print because it doesn't do anybody any good.

Portman: Right. I...I try to serve my...my reader. And, we don't pull any punches. I don't want to leave that impression. We...uh...we go whole hog on everything. But, we feel like that...uh...uh...we're a community. One thing, you know, if...if the old editor takes a pot shot at somebody or some institution, when he walks out the door to go to lunch he's going to see the momma, and the daddy, and the kids, and the aunts, and the uncles, and the...the pressure 26:00groups. And, uh...we still don't pull any punches...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...but...uh...we try to play it like a member of the community.

Berge: How long have you been editor?

Portman: I have been editor something like...uh...twenty-two or -three years.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: About four years after I came.

Berge: Uh-huh. Now...uh...do you all, since you've been here have you endorsed political candidates? In your...

Portman: We do endorse political candidates. Yes.

Berge: Very often?

Portman: Uh...when...when we get the wind. Really, uh...uh...here again...uh...uh...

Berge: Do you do it more often with state, lo...or local or national candidates?

Portman: An...an...any of the categories. Uh...Uh... Again, when we endorse a...a...uh...a local candidate it probably is more of a protest against an incumbent...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...who we feel is...is incompetent or taking advantage of the situation.

Berge: Or isn't doing his...

Portman: So we...we would endorse somebody we feel would do a better job.

Berge: Now, uh...now that the paper is owned differently, if you...could you...would you be apt to endorse a candidate on your own or would you talk with them up at Henderson?

Portman: No, we...we go strictly on our own. Uh...

Berge: OK. OK.

Portman: Uh... We have had some suggestions, but no pressure.

Berge: OK. OK. Uh...the...uh...of course, I guess what your say...been saying all along is that it's a...with the small town newspaper you do have a certain amount of community responsibility. Uh...in...in this community, when you have a local election, which one generally...uh...oh...develops the most interest and heat? Uh... Courthouse elections, city elections, or school board elections, generally?

Portman: Of course, the...uh...most interest is in the courthouse and the city hall. And, we've had some hot potatoes ...

Berge: [Laughing]

Portman: ...over the years. Uh... We still have a...a constant flow of...uh...combined political, social...uh...stuff that comes out of the...both places.

Berge: What do you have, like, two factions in this town?

Portman: Uh... A...a city and a county faction, yes.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, now, school board, uh...of course, maybe you can refresh my memory. I believe a board member serves a...uh...a two-year term.

Berge: Two or four. I... No, I think a four-year term, but they don't all come up each...each two years.

Portman: Yeah, maybe that's it...the rotation.

Berge: There'll be two...there'll be two of them one two years and there'll be three of them the next two years. Something like that.

Portman: Yeah. I should know off of the top of my head.

Berge: I think that's what it is though.

Portman: But, uh...

Berge: In other words, there's always either two or three.

Portman: You...you will find again, that if...if a board member is competent and has done his job, uh...he's practically in perpetual office.

Berge: Hm-hum. Now, some places...

Portman: If...if he proves ineffectual or for some reason...uh...he's not particularly...uh...appreciated, then there will be opposition and chances are he'll...he'll be defeated in that course.

Berge: Now, sometimes in eastern Kentucky and...and more recently in northern 29:00Kentucky, most of the school board elections have been really, uh...elections to put in a certain person as the superintendent. Does that... Do they run that way down here, too?

Portman: No, sir. Uh... We've got to be honest that the schools and the school administrators are political.

Berge: Oh, yeah.

Portman: Excuse me. [Sneeze]

Berge: In fact...

Portman: However...

Berge: One of the questions I...I ask...uh...school superintendents, I always preface it with the fact that a number of people say that your job is as much or more political than it is educational. Explain. You know, that sort of thing.

Portman: Well...that could be very true because a superintendent has to be an effective...uh...spokesman for the educational system. And, of course...

Berge: And, he's doing a lot of hiring, too.

Portman: ...for his own system. And, of course, he carries tremendous power with ...with the hiring and, in fact, the school budget is one of the larger budgets in the entire community.

Berge: Hm-hum.

Portman: Uh... But, uh...as far as the local politics are concerned, the...the 30:00superintendent is really not a victim of...uh...politics. Uh... I...I would like to think our newspaper's played an important role in this. In that we have insisted that...uh...the...uh...the various boards...uh, for instance the community hospital board...

Berge: Let me turn this over, OK?

Portman: Sure. [Tape changed]

Berge: ...the paper and the boards.

Portman: Right. We like to feel that the various boards should be kept as far out of politics as possible. I mentioned the community hospital.

Berge: You editorialize about this sometimes?

Portman: Right. Because we have insisted on the community hospital board, that the board itself pick its own members.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And this originates from the first board of some thirteen years ago now, which was a...a...appointed by the fiscal court.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Course, the board is responsible to the fiscal court. But, the board picks nominees from the magisterial districts and submits them to the court. If 31:00the court turns down a nominee, the board goes back and, well if they submit a list of four from each magisterial district, the court would have to turn 'em all down and then it would go back to the board to recommend some more. So, the fiscal court, while it does indeed carry the fiscal responsibility of the hospital, does not wield a political stick over the hospital.

Berge: Getting back to the schools, I guess what you're saying then is that really the schools here have been fairly free of small, every day politics.

Portman: Remarkably free. And, uh...uh...we've had a...a tremendous relationship between the administrators and the teachers. Of course, they...they don't always agree...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...in fact they more often disagree. But, they indeed sit down with among...among themselves and knock their heads, in the family so to speak, and...and...uh, of course, we have some...some...uh...PN [unclear; not sure if a 32:00word or acronym PN] supporters, here..

Berge: Uh-huh. Oh, sure.

Portman: ...and some avid PN supporters. But, really because of the good rapport from the top to the bottom, uh...PN has not been a strong factor here.

Berge: Are...uh...the people in the community pretty well pleased with their schools?

Portman: Absolutely. Uh... We feel like we've got a...a gem of a school. And, incidentally, the...from the high school right down through the...uh...uh...elementary schools are accredited by the Southern Association. A real feat.

Berge: Tell me this now. Uh... When people...uh...like in my home town, people talk about politics being dirty all the time, you know. I mean that's just the com...kind of comment...comment you here. Uh...Are people generally more pleased with the county government or the city government here?

Portman: Oh, uh...I think the county government. The city government has been in a state of turmoil for years and years and...uh...very factional. 33:00Uh...very...uh...uh...competitive and split. Uh...Definitely, I think that the county government's performance has been...uh...superior to that of the city.

Berge: OK. Let me stop just a minute. [Tape stopped and restarted]

Berge: Let's get back a little bit to the paper. Do you use local correspondents? Community reporters?

Portman: Yes. Uh... We use community...uh...reporters and also I...I use quite a few stringers both...uh...in news and in photography coverage.

Berge: Do people like those community reporters?

Portman: I...yes, of course, it's a rather limited reading audience, but...uh...I like to read it. I enjoy...

Berge: I always have.

Portman: And, it's really hardly any more than...uh...Mrs. Smith crossed the road to visit Mrs. Jones.

Berge: Uh-huh. But the people like from that section like it though.

Portman: Right. And, it's sort of a little, very personal...uh...community report. And...and some of 'em really are...are very good reporters, you know. If there's an...an event that's out of the ordinary, they'll...they'll pick it up, and uh. But, for the most part it's very homey...down home...and it has...

Berge: Do you edit their stuff or do you print it the way they write it?

Portman: We try to edit it...uh...into decent English and style...uh...but, we don't try to rewrite or...uh...uh...write our own...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...nuances into it. We just...uh...try to edit, because frankly some of it comes in...uh...written rather...uh...

Berge: Pretty rough, huh?

Portman: Rather rough. Good word.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh... really, we do this to avoid embarrassing...uh...the correspondent or...or a letter to the editor. We wouldn't change a meaning of a letter to the editor, even if it...it's calling me the lowest thing on earth...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...other than trying to remove sources of embarrassment to the writer. Because if someone calls me an ignorant fool and...and spells ignorant i-n-n-u-t or something...

Berge: [Laughing]

Portman: Uh...you...you remove that to...to, you know, prevent unnecessary embarrassment.

Berge: Do you get a lot of letters to the editor?

Portman: Not as many as I like. And, uh...uh...I get an awful lot that don't 35:00meet any of our requirements. In other words, they're...

Berge: They're not signed.

Portman: Hate letters. Or...uh...

Berge: Slanderous.

Portman: ...contain allegations that would take a...a...a team of Washington Post reporters...uh...months to investigate.

Berge: Um-huh.

Portman: And, uh... We can't touch 'em. We do use 'em as leads.

Berge: Um-huh.

Portman: Uh, But, they must meet our standards. And, uh...uh...we do retain an attorney who will advise us if something appears to be libelous. And, I just had to reject one a week or two ago because it was definitely libelous.

Berge: Tell me this. Uh... What's...what are the people's favorite parts of your paper? What are some of the things they really like in the paper?

Portman: I would say that maybe the...the first place may be the classified news.

Berge: I hear that a lot.

Portman: Uh...as a... If...if you've noticed our newspaper, we do have one heck of a lot of news. I use three front pages so to speak.

Berge: Yeah, I saw that.

Portman: And, uh...uh...so naturally, like my headline this week is about the state trying to hit us with an additional nineteen million dollar tax.

Berge: Yes.

Portman: I bet people read that.

Berge: I saw that.

Portman: Classifieds very popular. Uh... Sports is extremely popular. Uh...

Berge: Do you have any columns that people like?

Portman: Oh, yes. Uh, we...uh...we have both...uh...local columns. Uh... We have some state oriented columns. And, then we...uh...print Jack Anderson...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...for the ...uh...the...uh...type of folks that likes Jack Anderson.

Berge: Sure.

Portman: In fact, I like Jack Anderson.

Berge: And those...and those things are all kind of popular features?

Portman: Yes, sir.

Berge: I guess you do a lot with sports, don't you?

Portman: We work the fire out of sports.

Berge: Uh-huh. People like to see pictures, too, don't they?

Portman: Yes. Uh-huh. And, uh...

Berge: Do you take...put a lot of pictures in your paper?

Portman: The school has been extraordinary in the athletic field. And, uh...

Berge: Well, I've always known about football down here, you know.

Portman: Right. Of course, the school won the ...uh...state three A football championship. They went to the state tournament in basketball. We've got...uh...about eight individuals qualified for six events in the 37:00state...uh...track meet, which is underway tomorrow and Saturday. Uh...the...the track team won the regional and district titles. Uh... Our baseball team posted a superior record and then got upset in the district. But, athletics is a hot potato here. It's...it's a good seller. It creates high interest. And, uh...you've heard it, it's maybe a cliche, but it really helps to bind your community to get excited about something like this. And, when you take a...a town of about 8,000 that will put fifteen hundred, two thousand on the road for a regular season football came, you've got something of a phenomena.

Berge: [Laughing] You sure do. Tell me this, uh...let's say you and I had become...when you went to UK I was going there and we became friends and I came to visit you after all these years you've been gone. And, you'd want to sort of show off your community here. What would you take me to see?

Portman: First, I believe the school campus.

Berge: It's beautiful. Yeah.

Portman: Right.

Berge: We went there today.

Portman: And, then, I believe, it would be the...uh...probably the industries. The hospital. The community park, which incidentally we now have a...uh...a main community park, which is a beautiful facility. We have...uh...three mini-parks, which host activities like Pee Wee Leagues...

Berge: Uh-hum.

Portman: This sort of thing. Uh... Our...uh...Little League, Babe Ruth League fields are...uh...par excellence. Our high school field is par excellence, which is now...uh...being in the process of being lighted. Uh... Those are some of...and the industries...uh...uh...no telling...uh...how much industry has contributed to the growth. And, then of course...

Berge: And, that industry's also changed this county, too. It's brought in different kind of people, some...hasn't it?

Portman: Oh, yes. Uh... One of the first gripes I got was the...the old guard that would sit...for instance, let's just say the country club.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, the old guard would sit back and let the so called invader, you 39:00know, the Bostonians...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...and the Chicagoans come in and begin running their show. And, they'd say...those blankety, blank Yankees are taking over.

Berge: Yeah. Sure.

Portman: The answer to that is, if you're willing to do the work, get in there and do the work. And, they're willing to do it.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: And, it's...it's sort of a thing. I...I...as I say, I've been here twenty- seven years. And, I think maybe the last decade I may be accepted as a...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...more or less a native now.

Berge: Maybe by the time you die.

Portman: Right. Right. Uh...

Berge: Well, you know how it is in Eastern and Lexington and those places? Even worse, I guess.

Portman: Right. This...this is a typical...uh...smaller community with...with all of its advantages and disadvantages. Pettiness.

Berge: I was talking to an editor...uh...oh...a good ways from here, over in the Purchase area one day. And, he told me that the power structure is really changing in that town because a bunch of the old timers thought you could run it from the country club. And, you can't any more. You have to get out and do the work.

Portman: That's...that's...

Berge: Their...their fathers went out and worked in the precincts, and they're...they think they can do it sitting around a table at the country club.

Portman: That's...that's exactly right. Uh...uh... We had a...uh...an example in one of the political races here where the...the candidate was thoroughly convinced he had a lock on the office and...uh...his opponent worked the streets like a dog. And, lo and behold, this man left office. And, uh...uh...you...you've actually...you've hit it very well is that...uh...you know, the executive that sits in the ivory tower...uh...he...he...he better be ready because there's some guy downstairs with his shirt sleeves rolled up, sweating, that's...uh...coming after him.

Berge: What do you think are the big problems in the county?

Portman: Well...let's see...uh. I...I...think one of them is...is definitely the very thing we mentioned. The...the factionism in...uh...some of 41:00the...uh...uh...city hall.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, even the courthouse. Uh... Generally, uh...one general fault the community, uh...which is indeed very rich. It's...uh...uh...per capita is excellent. It's standing in the community. Is that...uh...people aren't willing to...to contribute to the things that need to be done. Uh... For instance, this community park system...uh...took twenty years...

Berge: Um-hum.

Portman: ...of people with their shirt sleeves rolled up rolling rocks to finally get there. It... The process is too slow for me.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, I'm an impatient type of fellow.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh... The...the community hospital. It...it lost in two referendums before it passed the third time.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, of course, this is a sacrifice by the taxpayers.

Berge: It's hard to get people to do things like that, isn't it?

Portman: Right. Uh... They...they want, uh...they want the services, but they don't want to pay for 'em, I guess.

Berge: You have pretty good recreation do you think?

Portman: Uh... It...it's lacking. Uh... The one thing for the youngsters in 42:00Franklin is there's not any decent activity for 'em at nights, when schools are out. Uh... It's...it's a kind of town were the teenager at the best...uh...parks his car along the...the streets...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...and plays Frisbee or what have you. And, then from there, you know, it goes worse.

Berge: Yeah. Yeah.

Portman: And that's...that's probably the most serious problem is...is entertaining the teenager. Recently, a...uh...group of churches have opened a Lighthouse...

Berge: Uh-huh

Portman: ...which is aimed at that sort of thing, but...uh...the general teenager's ignoring it. They...they...

Berge: You're...you're in a pretty good place...

Portman: ...don't go to it.

Berge: ... for drug problems between Bowling Green and Nashville, too, aren't you?

Portman: We have had and do have drug problems.

Berge: Is it as bad as it was?

Portman: It's not as bad as it was because...uh...uh...initially there was such a furor that the courts, the law and the courts, started really cracking down. 43:00They...they had no mercy.

Berge: Have you seen a bigger change since...uh...the district court system?

Portman: Absolutely. Great...great...uh...contribution to the social justice.

Berge: Um-huh. It really has...uh. I know you talk to the old judges they say the trouble with those guys is that they go by the book. [Laughing]

Portman: Right. And, see they took all...took a great deal of political power away from the county judge who is now the county-judge executive.

Berge: Yeah. He...

Portman: He doesn't have that force that he had.

Berge: Oh, no. Those judges, they held those indictments.

Portman: Certainly.

Berge: And, would sell them.

Portman: Uh...

Berge: Call them in on Election Day, too, didn't they.

Portman: Why, yeah. You know all you had to do is just know the right person. You could get anything...

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: ...short of murder fixed. And, probably...uh...

Berge: Come close on that.

Portman: Come...come close on that.

Berge: Yeah. Yeah.

Portman: We have a district judge here that I labeled him a hanging judge, which doesn't exactly please him. But, he cracks down. He is stepping on the letter of the law.

Berge: Um-hum. Yeah, I know that the county judges executive talk about that all the time. First they...uh...they just think that justice should be uneven, I 44:00think. Some of those old timers.

Portman: Certainly. It's...dates back in the history.

Berge: Uh-huh. That's the way you bought votes.

Portman: Right. Right.

Berge: Well that's one of the ways you bought votes anyway. Tell me this. Uh... I guess you belong to...uh...KP...KPA. I can tell by looking out there.

Portman: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. And...

Berge: You've had a long associ...association with KPA, too, because of...uh...

Portman: Certainly...uh...

Berge: ...your father who...

Portman: Really my lifetime, because...uh...uh...when...when I was born dad was secretary of the KPA. And, when dad retired, I was in the newspaper business myself. So, uh...you could say probably 51 years...uh...outside of the crib.

Berge: Tell me this, uh...what are the big advantages of membership in the KPA?

Portman: Well, tremendous advantages. Of course, if you follow your legislatures, you know that...uh...there is constant pressure on the press.

Berge: In other words, clout in Frankfort.

Portman: Right. And, uh...uh...KPA is a...uh..., of course, an organized lobby, 45:00which tries to protect the interests of the...uh...of the newspaper industry, and it...it...it gives us strength. It gives us a strong voice. And, uh...then of course there are related services. KPS, which is a advertising service...uh...that's fallen off drastically in the last...uh...ten years, but it still is a service. Uh... It...it's a very valuable association.

Berge: In other words, you figure you get your money's worth there.

Portman: Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Berge: Uh...right off the top of your head now. I know you're going to forget some that you want to mention after you do it. But, tell me who are some of the people in the newspaper business that you have in Kentucky that you...that you...uh...that you like and have had a lot of respect for.

Portman: Well, this...this could be legend you know...uh.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: Enos Swain at Danville. Uh...uh... Now, my fault here is I can picture these gentlemen perfectly, but I...I'll mess up on their names.

Berge: OK. I understand.

Portman: And, uh...uh... There...there are just a number. Now, I...of course, I...I've grown up with the old school.

Berge: Yeah. And, when I go to KPA summer at June 5, there will be an element of old school... uh... including my...uh...88-year-old father.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, my mother will be there. And, this is...this is the old guard that remember me, you know, when I was in diapers sucking a bottle.

Berge: Sure.

Portman: And, there's that element. And, then there's the...the middle grounders, which I'll graciously place myself in. Uh, then there's the newcomers, the young lions, whom I do not know other than when I meet 'em and if I have a chance to...to shoot the bull with them. I get to know 'em fairly well. I get to know 'em in everyday con...uh...uh...course of business.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: But, uh...there's a...there's an element that I do not know. See, I've been out of...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...college...uh...thirty years.

Berge: Yeah, but tell me some of the other ones besides Mr. Swain. You've mentioned him. Who's...uh...

Portman: Well, as I say, my...my...

Berge: Well, tell me the papers.

Portman: My big fault is...uh...is names. Of course, I told you L.L. Valentine earned...

Berge: Sure.

Portman: ...my respect. I...I'll try to get into some more. But, uh...to say...some of these gentlemen I can picture...uh...perfectly, but I can't remember their names off hand. Uh... Snooks Crutcher over at Morehead.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh...Larry Stone is...is an original.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: I'm not saying he's my ideal journalist.

Berge: Oh, I understand. Yeah.

Portman: He's certainly an original.

Berge: There's a lot of old characters like...

Portman: Right.

Berge: Fred Burkhardt up in...uh...

Portman: Fred is...is one of 'em, too. Except, Fred...uh...walks in my line in a golf match. And, but, but...Fred's one of them.

Berge: He's an [unclear], isn't he?

Portman: I played golf with Fred last summer. Might be playing with him again this year. Uh, but it might...I...I...I must confess. I...I've got a...the type of mind that...uh... absorbs facts, uses 'em, and dismisses em.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, with it I dismiss names, ranks, serial numbers ...uh...localities...uh... When I go to KPA, I...I see people I've known 30 years and I have to...

Berge: Yeah, look at their name tags.

Portman: ...sneak a peak at the na...name tag.

Berge: Yeah. I...I do that...I do that all the time at history meetings.

Portman: Sometimes I need to look down at my own to remember who I am.

Berge: Let me ask you one other question. This is one that I ask people and sometimes people are very frank with me. Sometimes they deny that it exists. And, other times they just skirt the issue, and I don't care how you do it. Although, I like you to talk to me about it. Uh... One question I ask everyone I talk with is, or one thing I bring up, is that in every county I've been in there's a certain number of people. Oh, it varies from very small groups to relatively large groups, and even then those groups vary, who run the county. You can call them what you want to. The power structure. The elite. The decision makers. Some of these people are doers. They get things done. Other people keep things from getting done. I'm not particularly interested in names as much as I 49:00am the kinds of people who run this county.

Portman: All right, sir. Firstly, when I came to Franklin...uh...two gentlemen, brothers, practically ran the entire county. They had the economic hold. They had the political hold. And, they were old fashioned ward-healing politicians.

Berge: Some...some...something maybe like Mr. Broadbent ran Trigg County or...

Portman: Right. This sort of thing exactly.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh... They ran it lock, stock, and barrel. Uh... Oddly enough and ironically, the same two men brought in the industries, worked towards the industries that started their own downfall.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: As far...uh... I...when I say downfall...

Berge: I understand.

Portman: Political.

Berge: I understand.

Portman: And, economical.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: In other words, this power hold they had on the community. And, uh...

Berge: They wrought changes, which they didn't envision.

Portman: Right. And, uh...uh...generally speaking, I would say, you know, there is no....uh...titular head, or there's no particular group...uh...whether it be a political party, a...a social group...uh...that is really all powerful, or 50:00even totally influential in...and certainly I...I know my newspaper is an influence.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Good or bad or indifferent. Uh... But, uh...I don't consider the newspaper omnipotent. I know that...that, you know, we can't...uh...walk on water. And,...

Berge: But, you're still part of the power structure.

Portman: Right. We're part of the power structure, definitely.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: But, we cannot...uh...walk through walls or anything. We've got our limitation. And, a... A community publisher, particularly...uh...one who...who is really independent, I think, has a tremendous responsibility, which he must meet honestly and...uh...with intestinal fortitude, or you don't have a lot. And, I think your readership knows this. I think...uh...uh... the people that cuss me continuously for this and that, uh...realize that...uh...while we make 51:00mistakes...uh...we...uh...we are champions of the community.

Berge: Let me make a statement.

Portman: Right or wrong.

Berge: Let me make a statement. You react to this. I think what...what I gather from what you're saying is that while this power structure at one time was very identifiable, with changes in the county it's more diffused now. It's still there, but it's not as...hard...it's harder to get your finger on.

Portman: Very true. Uh...

Berge: More people involved in it...

Portman: Extremely diffused. Uh... It...it's just not centered upon any political party, any group.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: Uh... Gosh. Simpson County already has about six, seven hundred Republicans. Uh... Twenty years ago unheard of...

Berge: [Laughing] Yeah.

Portman: ...you know. It's a, the old jokes, there weren't any. But, uh...uh....the...there is no power structure here that is...that is imminently powerful.

Berge: I imagine since Brown was elected governor it's even more diffused because of patronage is being more diffused.

Portman: Right. Uh...uh... Brown has his...uh...people here who if we need 52:00anything you go, this particular representative goes directly to Brown or to direct...

Berge: Hum.

Portman: ...underlying. And, uh, I must say that this has been a powerfully Democratic county, and ...uh...once Frankfort knew there was a Franklin on the map, uh...the Democratic...uh...interests have been very good to Simpson County.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: With again a lot of sweat, blood, toil, and tears.

Berge: Let me just...uh...I'm about finished, and I was wondering do...can you think of anything that I should have had enough sense to ask you and didn't?

Portman: Uh...uh... There was one thing I thought of that's...is...is a philosophy of our newspaper and radio station. And, we start with a positive attitude. We want to be builders.

Berge: Um-huh.

Portman: And, then, when organizations, people, school systems, county/city governments need their hands slapped, we slap them.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: But, we try to be builders first and...and then, uh...the...the...the 53:00news that's destructive to your community...uh...is not ignored, it's fully reported, but...uh...it...it's not, in other words, instead of going out for the dirt...

Berge: Um-huh.

Portman: ...and the junk, we look for the better stuff first, and then...uh... we take the other as it comes.

Berge: And, that's what you think a community newspaper should do, I take.

Portman: Yes, sir. And, uh...we have reporters extraordinarily...uh...for a small paper like ourselves, because of the radio, who are constantly on the beat and...uh...if...if you know the first thing about a newspaper, whether it be the Franklin Favorite, The New York Times, it's the reporter out on the beat that gets the...the news. The good, bad, the sordid, and the different and indifferent.

Berge: Where do you hire your people from?

Portman: Primarily Western because of its proximity. Uh... We have pipelines 54:00with Murray, which has a very fine journalism school. University of Kentucky, of course. Uh...those are the...the major sources. Uh...we use our chain for leads. Uh... I recently...uh...needed a position filled and...and...uh...the Daily News at Bowling Green and the Henderson Gleaner sent me their job applications.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, I reviewed those and...and...uh...found some...some decent people. Uh... We do of course work with the J-schools, the...the most recently hired on my staff is a graduate, couple...well a week ago, from...from...uh...Western.

Berge: Um-huh. Well, I want to thank you very much Mr. Portman. It's been a pleasure to talk with you, and it's been very informative for me.

Berge: All right, Bill. Thank you. [Tape stopped and restarted]

Berge: Sports publicist when you were a student at UK.

Portman: Yes, sir. I made the magnificent sum of seventy-five cents an hour. Of course, I was working with the great football teams of Bear Bryant, 55:00the...uh...Babe Parilli, Walt Yowarsky, uh...Bob Gain era. In basketball, course it was Hagan and Ramsey and Tsioropoulos and that group.

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: And, the, story I was going to relate is that...uh...of course, I worked with all the...uh...news people, in fact, on a national scope. Uh... Larry Beck, you probably remember, was with the Courier-Journal.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, had the UK beat, which was probably the...uh...one of the plushest sports beats in the country.

Berge: Oh, yeah.

Portman: Well, when I came to...uh...Franklin and began in the community journalism business, uh...I used to see Larry, and Larry'd say you lucky son of a gun, you blankety-blank down there in the nice, tranquil community...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...journalism sort of thing. And, of course, I felt just the opposite. That...that Beck had the...the great plum...

Berge: Yeah.

Portman: ...of the...uh...of the newspaper field. Larry perhaps was four or five years older than I am, but as you know, he's...uh...now deceased.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, uh...knock on wood...uh...maybe the...uh...journ...the community...

Berge: The jobs you had made a difference.

Portman: ...the community grind is not as pressure packed as the other.

Berge: And the thing about it is you're in every as...every aspect of it, aren't you?

Portman: Yes. I cover the sports scene myself. I have a student who comes in and pastes... a college student who...who does the...the layout and the paste up. But, I...I write nearly a hundred percent of the sports myself with everything else.

Berge: Uh-huh.

Portman: And, it's a hobby, an avocation, a love.

Berge: Yeah. Well, thanks again.