It’s good to be home

Scott Loftis

Scott Loftis

It seems like just a few months ago when I accepted a job as managing editor for Carroll County Newspapers over the telephone, sight unseen. The fact is, though, it’s been more than nine years since that telephone conversation with former publisher Bob Moore changed my life.

I celebrated my ninth anniversary with the Carroll County News on Friday, June 23. As I said, I came here as the managing editor in June 2014 — after giving my previous employer, the daily Pine Bluff Commercial, a month’s notice at Bob’s insistence.

I actually visited Berryville a couple of weeks before I moved to Carroll County, to meet Bob in person and begin looking for a place to live. My initial impression was that coming here might have been the best career decision I’d ever made. Nine years later, that impression hasn’t changed, except that “might have been” no longer applies.

A lot has changed in nine years. I own a home in Berryville now. I met the woman who’s now my wife (she’s originally from Rogers but has fallen in love with Berryville just like I did). And in maybe the biggest change of all, I’m no longer just the managing editor. Today, I’m the editor, publisher and majority owner of both the Carroll County News and the Eureka Springs Times-Echo.

It’s a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love. I wake up every morning excited to get to the office and see what the day will bring. I’m consistently amazed by the amount of news there is to be covered and the number of interesting people I get to interact with on a daily basis.

Of course, not every day is sunshine and rainbows. I’ve made some mistakes, like the time I printed a frontpage reminder for everyone to set their clocks back an hour on the first day of Daylight Saving Time. I’ve upset some folks with what I’ve had to say in this space. Some folks have disagreed with our news coverage, like the time we reported on a Eureka Springs man who was accused of rape. There was a great deal of outrage and public criticism from some of his friends and family — none of whom seemed to say much a few months later when he quietly pleaded guilty to a lesser felony charge. There was the time a prominent local resident threatened in graphic terms to physically assault one of our reporters over a puff-piece feature story. He declined my invitation to try me first.

But there have been a whole lot more good days, like the time a young mother emailed me to say that a column I wrote about my own mom inspired her to believe she could still accomplish her own goals in life. Or the time the sister of a murdered woman thanked me for reporting on the case. Or countless other occasions when this newspaper helped in some small way to make this a better, more informed community.

Nine years ago, I was burnt out from working 10 or 12 hours a day, six days a week, without much fulfillment or appreciation and no end in sight. When I got to Berryville, I found a balance between a rewarding career and a life outside the office, with a boss who understood and appreciated my value. I found a beautiful place and friends and neighbors who make it a pleasure to live and work here.

I found my home nine years ago. I’m where I was meant to be, doing what I was meant to do. I truly believe not many people are blessed like that.

I’m home now and I never want to be anywhere else.

••• Scott Loftis is editor and publisher of the Carroll County News. His email address is SLoftis@CarrollCoNews.com,