Sam Hall: Daily Journal editor says farewell: Coming home was a blessing for me and my family
Jul. 13—When I arrived back in Tupelo two years ago, my introductory column with the Daily Journal challenged the idiom that you can never go home again. It was a trip down memory lane of growing up in Pontotoc and here.
I ended the column by saying, "It's exciting to be home. And in case you are wondering, it is possible to go back and still move ahead."
Little did I know then that I would be "moving ahead" so soon.
This is my last week as executive editor with the Daily Journal. My family and I are moving to Greenville, South Carolina, where I'll be working as regional editor for The Post and Courier over several markets. It's an exciting opportunity — not one I was seeking out, but one I couldn't ignore.
It's funny how often God can remind us that our plans really don't matter. When we came to Tupelo, I figured we'd be here at least five years, if not 10. Moving right now — with my oldest two children entering their senior and junior years in high school — was simply not even a consideration. Uprooting them once was bad enough.
But God has his own plan.
I saw the job posting with The Post and Courier, but I thought little about it. Then a week later, a former colleague called. He's friends with the publisher there, and he knows a little about the organization. I remembered what my dad always said, "It never hurts to listen."
And here we are. I'm getting ready to leave my hometown for the second time. I don't know of an idiom that says you can't do that.
Returning to Tupelo was a blessing for my family and me. We've enjoyed our time here. My children were involved in band, theatre, baseball and church. My wife taught at my alma mater. We made new friends, and I reconnected with old ones. It's been a blessing.
Professionally, the opportunity to lead the newsroom of the paper with which I grew up has been an honor. I've had the opportunity to work with some talented journalists here in Tupelo, and I'm exceedingly proud of what we've accomplished during the past two-plus years.
Tupelo continues to be served by a great community newspaper despite the challenges our industry continues to face. As long as the CREATE Foundation remains committed to George McLean's vision of a strong local newspaper, Tupelo and Northeast Mississippi will be well served by the journalists at the Daily Journal.
What we have here in Tupelo with CREATE and the Daily Journal is unique. I tell people all the time that we are blessed to have not only local ownership but a community-minded non-profit as that ownership. We don't have to meet the demands of investors but can instead reinvest in our product and our community. That is so rare in today's newspaper industry, and I hope it is protected at all costs.
Coming back here — as I wrote in that first column — was a mix of familiarity and new discovery. Tupelo has maintained it's small-town charm and sense of community while at the same time growing and evolving in truly wonderful and remarkable ways.
This will always be my hometown, and I'll always be proud to call it so.
SAM R. HALL is the outgoing executive editor of the Daily Journal. Contact him at sam@samrhall.com or follow @samrhall on Twitter or Threads.
