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then became assistant to the publisher and general manager.
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In 1974, Leo S. Mallard became president and editor of Covington News, Inc.
In 1975, the newspaper moved its operations from the downtown area to a new building on U.S. Hwy. 278.
In 1983, the newspaper and its printing operation were sold to the company’s employees, and Denny Hill was named editor. Three years later, the employees sold the newspaper to Morris Newspaper Corp., headed by Charles Morris of Savannah. Morris named Hill as editor and publisher and in June 1987, the newspaper returned its offices to the downtown area.
Today, Patrick Graham, of Monroe, is proprietor of The Covington News. Graham, who also owns The Walton Tribune in Monroe and three newspapers in Alabama, purchased The News from Morris in September 2017.
“Newton County is a tremendous community with a rich history and an even brighter future,” Graham said at the time.
“I can’t tell you how excited I am to have the opportunity to build on the solid foundation of service and leadership the Morris family and its company have provided here in Covington for so many years.
“Simply put, I want to put out the very best newspaper of its size in the state of Georgia,” he added. “We have a community that deserves that kind of quality coverage, and we have the kind of staff that can deliver that kind of quality coverage.”
Since Graham purchased the newspaper, The Covington News has been printed in Scottsboro, Alabama, at the Jackson County Sentinel.
After acquiring The News, Graham named David Clemons publisher. In 2018, Jackie Gutknecht was named publisher. In 2019, Graham appointed his daughter, Madison Graham, to be publisher. Then, in 2020, Graham hired Taylor Beck to serve as editor and publisher.
Under Beck’s leadership, The Covington News expanded its publication, adding a mid-week edition in August 2020 to become a twice-weekly newspaper — publishing new issues every Wednesday and weekend.
In August 2022, Graham named Gabriel Stovall, a former award-winning sports editor for The News, as publisher and editor. Stovall became the paper’s first African American to hold that distinction.
In 2021, Beck and staff launched the Covington News app, available to download for free in the App Store and on Google Play, and added an Entertainment Extra for the Wednesday print edition.
“The Covington News has been an integral and inseparable part of the Covington and Newton County community for almost as long as Covington has been around,” Stovall said. “Through a myriad of changes in our city and nation, The News has been stalwart in being this community’s chief storyteller, and we have no plans of that changing anytime soon. This newspaper has been, and will continue to be, an award winner for its coverage. But we’ll also begin to be known as an incubator for emerging journalism talent so as to do our part to make sure real journalism does not die.
“I’m excited to extend our traditional ways of meeting this community’s news needs, while mining out new and fresh ways to do the same. As our industry continues to change and evolve at break-neck speed, we at The News are dedicated to ensuring our media company remains on our industry’s cutting edge.”
The Covington News is currently located at 1166 Usher St. NW in Covington.
Current publisher and editor Gabriel Stovall contributed to this article.
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