The Midway Messenger joins The Woodford Sun

University of Kentucky journalism students, reporting for the Midway Messenger as part of a class assignment, interviewed Mayor Grayson Vandegrift and City Council members after a council meeting several years ago. (Photo by Al Cross) 

The Midway Messenger, a mostly online news outlet that recently began its 15th year, is moving into the hands of The Woodford Sun, the county's only newspaper. The transfer will occur Friday.

The Messenger debuted in January 2008 as a service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky. Institute Director Al Cross, a professor in the School of Journalism and Media, created it as a laboratory for students in his community journalism courses, and as a project to provide more news coverage for Midway and serve as an example of online rural journalism.

During this school year, Cross entered UK's phased retirement program, at 75% of normal. He has stopped teaching, so students have not written for the Messenger since May 2021, but he has maintained its basic news coverage. As part of the handoff, the Sun has agreed to offer internships to students who would cover the Midway area.

"I am very happy to turn over the Messenger to the Sun," Cross said. "It's an independent, locally owned newspaper that is in close touch with its community, including Midway. I very much appreciate its willingness to help students, which was my fundamental motive for starting the Messenger."

Sun Publisher Ben Chandler said, "I want to thank Al Cross for trusting us with the Messenger. His work, and that of his students, made Midway a better place to live, work and play. We aim to, with his continued advice and support, continue the good work of the Messenger and in the process, improve the newspaper my family purchased in 1942."

The Sun was encouraged to accept the Messenger by the Midway Business Association’s favorable response to its request for advertising support. The Messenger has not run advertising, except in some of its twice-yearly print editions, for sponsors who paid for the printing and wanted to advertise. (The last print edition was in summer 2020, because the pandemic made distribution difficult.)

In its 14 years and three months of publication, the Messenger has published 1,733 articles, more than 10 per month. Its blog, where articles appear, has drawn more than 923,000 page views. The top four stories in the last year, all with more than 1,000 page views each, have been about the proposal for a recreational-vehicle resort just north of Midway. Many posts on its Facebook page have thousands of engagements.

"When I decided on a career in journalism, my only goal was to run a rural community newspaper," said Cross, who spent most of his career with the Louisville Courier Journal. "I thank the people of Midway for giving me the opportunity to be a community editor and publisher, and encourage them to continue supporting the Messenger and the Sun."    

Latest print edition of the Messenger is published; news outlet's future is in the hands of the people of Midway

By Al Cross
Extension professor, University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

The latest print edition of the Midway Messenger has been distributed to most of our regular locations in Midway. If you can't find a copy, email al.cross@uky.edu or download a PDF of it here. We do a print edition about twice a year, depending on events, at the request of Midway residents.

Front page of latest Messenger print edition

The edition includes major stories published since the last print edition, in July, and several of them have been updated. It also includes a "Letter from the editor," yours truly, about the future of the Messenger. Following is a major part of it.

I am 65 and would like to do some other things while I still have opportunities. Retirement won't come right away, but it's time to plan. Soon after I realized that the Messenger, which began in 2008, wasn't going to be just a short-term experiment, I knew it needed a succession plan. You don't just start a newspaper for a community and then shut it down because you want to do other things. A newspaper is a big asset to any community, and its proprietor should try to preserve it. That's what I'm trying to do.

My first thought was that the Messenger could become a product of citizen journalism, with Midway residents doing the stories and maintaining the online presence. I'm not sure that's going to happen; I have quietly circulated this idea for three years and haven't had any volunteers. Now I'm asking publicly.

For a town of 1,700, Midway is unusually well served by media; The Woodford Sun does a good job on major events, and has a good Midway correspondent in Vanessa Seitz; the Facebook group Midway Musings has more members than the town has households.

An online survey by our first summer intern, Sarah Ladd (now at the Courier Journal), found that those responding were evenly divided when asked whether they went to Musings or the Messenger for local news. That shows different information tastes; Musings eschews political material, while we relish it.

Another difference in the two is that Musings is a social medium and the Messenger is a news medium. News media offer journalism, which emphasizes facts and has a discipline of verification; social media have little discipline or verification, though Brian Axon does a great job with Musings.

If you want Midway to have its own news medium, with real, independent journalism, I'd like to
talk with you about the future of the Messenger, in which I could stay involved for a while. You may contact me at at Al.Cross@uky.edu, at 859-257-3744, via the Messenger's Facebook page or on Twitter @ruralj.

Behind the scenes of judging the Midway Woman's Club annual Halloween Decorating Contest

The overall winner was at 211 South Winter Street.  For a larger version of any photo, click on it.

By Kennedy Sabharwal
University of Kentucky School of Journalism and Media

For the past four years the Midway Woman’s Club has held an annual Halloween Decorating Contest among the homes in town. This year 12 awards were given, ranging from Scariest to Best Spider Web to Most Kid Friendly.

On Sunday evening, members of the Woman’s Club drove around town and took a look at all of the decorated homes. The judges were quite surprised that only a few businesses decorated this year. The judges said they gave the award to Commotion! At 104 E. Main St. because of its “festive window display” that consists of skeletons and a bat hanging above the front entrance of the business.

The judges gave the Most Fun award to a family that set up a full Wizard of Oz scene in their front yard. 121 Carriage Lane won because it was “very creative and fun,” a judge said. “The characters, you could tell exactly which they were, and even the witch was melting!” The excitement this house brought to all of the judges was reason enough for the award.

318 North Winter Street won for Best Daytime decorations.

Some other awards and reasons included the Best Daytime award at 318 N. Winter St. for being “eye catching when driving through town and being impressive, comprehensive, having thought of design, and use of multiple elements,” the judges said.

One of the hardest awards to give was the Best Spider Web, because so many homes had neat and diverse webs. Some had webs across bushes, trees, and the lawn, while others had webs covering their entire porch. The award went to 223 Johnson St. because of its creativity and intricate webs on its porch, the judges said.

Best pumpkins: 106 Cottage Grove

The Best Pumpkin award at 106 Cottage Grove won for its “pumpkins being artfully carved and arranged,” a judge said.

The award for Best Overall décor went to 211 S. Winter St. because of its “spectacular Halloween display… It’s creative, it’s a little scary, they continue to use lights every year,” a judge said. “It’s cool in the daytime as well in the nighttime. It’s just a lot of fun.”

During the car ride around town, one judges spoke about how hard it was for her to choose winners. “It’s difficult,” she said. “I mean you see how difficult it is to choose who wins each award … Everyone’s home just looks great in their own way.”

Many homeowners in Midway went all-out and allowed their Halloween spirit to shine through each decoration. The judges said they want to add more awards next year, such as Best Porch, because of how many amazing decorations they saw during the judging process.

The judges gave the award for Scariest display to the residence at 119 East Stephens Street.

The Messenger thanks the club for letting us ride with the judges, whom we granted anonymity.

128 S. Winter St. won a Halloween Spirit Award.

These homes received awards:
Most Kid Friendly - 111 Turner St.
Scariest - 119 E. Stephens St.
Best Use of Technology - 323 S. Winter St.
Best Spider Web - 223 Johnson St.
Best Pumpkins - 106 Cottage Grove
Best Use of Inflatables - 231 Higgins St.
Creepiest - 245 Higgins St.
Best Overall - 211 S. Winter St.
Most Fun - 121 Carriage Lane
Best Daytime - 318 N. Winter St.
Halloween Spirit Award - 218 219 W. Higgins (below), 128 S. Winter, 232 W. Higgins