NFIB Local Member Profile: Betty Jean Weesner of the Republican Newspaper

Date: March 17, 2015

NFIB Local Member Profile: Betty Jean Weesner of the Republican Newspaper

Betty Jean Weesner’s work in the media industry spans eight decades. Her tenure at the  Danville Republican, a small-town publication first printed in 1846, began in the fourth grade on the local school news beat. Her father, Edward J. Weesner, owned the company until 1961, when she became his successor. Today as editor of the Danville, Indiana-based weekly, she churns out 1,700 copies of local news with the help of her only employee, Betty Bartley—and the office cat, Cookie.  

In the decades since Weesner first put on her reporter’s hat, she witnessed operations evolve multiple times from setting her own type with the latest technology at the time to forgoing the do-it-yourself model and sending the paper out to a third-party printer. However, her dedication to keeping locals informed hasn’t changed and she shares some insight into how her small-town paper stands tall in the digital world.

Name: Betty Jean Weesner

Business: The Republican 

Employees: 2

Location: Danville, Indiana 

In the early years, what was your role at the newspaper?

I did the school news reporting on what was going on in grades one, two, three—whatever I could find. The teachers cooperated with me, that’s how I got my start. I liked it. When I was in high school, I did sports. I watched the basketball games, football games [and] covered those. 

How has the newspaper industry evolved over time?

Back when I started, we were using hot type [and] monotype. And my dad bought a new Linotype for $10,000 and we used that up until 1975. So I’ve gone from Linotype to phototype to computers. 

These days, how do you gather information for stories?

People sometimes call and give you a hint that you might be interested in and others come from publicity agents and organizations. Schools usually have a guidance counselor or somebody that’s interested in them that spreads the word. Right now we do a lot of things by email, which is a great help. 

Usually my job is going to the post office, which is just outside of town. I open the mail, get everything sorted and start in with everything I glean out. We have a feature that’s called Yesteryear, which goes back 125, 100, 50, 75, 25 [and] 10 years. People really love it. We pick up things out of those issues each week. 

We have correspondents in three other towns in the county—a lady in North Salem, one in Lizton and another in Amo. People like to see their name in print. People don’t have a chance to get their names in the big-time dailies very often, so I think [small newspapers] will last a little while longer. 

What do you love about reporting the news?

I like being with and talking to people. I’m nosy and I like to know what’s going on. I read the obituaries to see who’s left us and if they ever lived or worked in Hendricks County. I always remember my dad telling a story when Lindbergh flew over the Atlantic. Some man called him and wanted to know why it wasn’t in our newspaper, about Lindbergh setting the record. My dad said “Well, he didn’t live in Hendricks County, he wasn’t born in Hendricks County, so we leave that to the big guys.” 

You’ve been an NFIB member since 1978, why is being part of the organization important to you? 

Somebody has to look after us little guys, and I think they’re doing a good job.

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