Snippets of local youth sports news, the retirement of Plant City Fire Chief George Shiley, plans to expand South Florida Baptist Hospital, and the inception of the Plant City Observer newspaper entitled ‘Born on the 4th of July,’ were several articles that graced the front page of the Observer’s first edition, on Wednesday, July 4, 2012.
This past Monday, not only was it a celebration of Independence Day, but also the 10-year anniversary since the Plant City Observer released its first issue.
It began with a vision from the newspaper’s co-owner, Ed Verner who wanted hyperlocal news coverage for Plant City.
The Plant City Courier was the publication that preceded the Observer and began serving the town in 1884. In 2007, a merger brought the Courier under the Tampa Tribune and its Plant City office was closed, and then operated in Tampa and Brandon.
“I didn’t start off thinking I wanted to create a competitor,” Verner said. In fact, he considered buying the Courier to cover Plant City exclusively and be based in town.
When the Observer began in 2012, there was a four-year overlap when both publications were providing local Plant City news coverage to their residents. However, after 132 years in existence, the Courier ceased operations on May 3, 2016.
This came after the publication’s owner, The Tampa Tribune, was bought out and closed by the Tampa Bay Times.
“There was very little add revenue toward the end because it was seen as not really covering Plant City,” Verner said. “There was no sports coverage of youth athletics.”
This left the Observer as the sole town newspaper.
In a 2016 article in the Plant City Observer, Dave Nicholson, a journalist from the former Courier stated that, “For the first time, the Courier couldn’t force a competitor from its domain.”
Former Plant City Mayor Rick Lott recalled growing up when the Courier was a staple in town.
When the newspaper folded, he was relieved that there was still print journalism in town to represent the voices in the community.
“It was exciting to see the Observer step up and to fill that void that would have been in our community, and it has excelled in covering the local news, and that Plant Citians want to hear about it,” Lott said. “They want to hear about their local sports. They want to hear about their community, their government.”
Along with Verner, the current co-owners of the Observer are Plant City Mayor Nate Kilton, Felix Haynes and Karen Berry, its publisher.
Initially, the Observer was a partnership between Verner, Kilton, Haynes and Matt Walsh, the owner of the Observer Media Group in Sarasota. Verner eventually bought out Walsh’s share.
A pledge was made that there would not be an owner that was located more than 15 miles outside of Plant City.
Haynes is the former president of the Hillsborough Community College – Plant City campus. He left his role in 2012 as the Observer came on the scene.
“It was mainly me, although Felix Haynes was very passionate,” Verner said. “He was entering a phase in his life when he wanted a small business venture with some of his retirement. He didn’t have a whole lot of money to spend, but he had a great deal of passion.”
“Tucked between Tampa and Lakeland and sitting in the eastern end of the third largest county in Florida, the residents of Plant City knew their opinions about local and regional news stories often differed from those of their larger neighbors,” Haynes said. “With those differences, it was important to maintain and support a hometown newspaper that reflected our unique public opinions. We were blessed for many years with just such a newspaper, the Courier. But the Courier’s desire to reflect our local perspectives deteriorated, and then things got worse when it was sold to the Tampa Tribune. That was when I and my founding partners, Ed Verner and Nate Kilton, decided that we needed to establish another hometown, hyperlocal newspaper to replace the one we had lost. In July 2012, we published our first edition, and we haven’t looked back.”
Kilton was an accountant who had not entered public office when he bought his share of the publication.
Verner referenced him as being a “trusted voice in Plant City.”
“It’s hard to believe that it’s already been 10 years,” Kilton said. “I have a copy of the first printing of the Observer framed and hanging in my office. The headline was ‘Born on the Fourth of July.’ The title and timing of that first printing was perfect. Other front-page news included ‘Plant City Hospital Plans $5 million Expansion.’ It’s amazing how much has occurred in a decade.”
Then in July 2015, Karen Berry became a co-owner and is the current publisher of the Observer.
“What I was dealing with were weeklies and I was an account representative,” she said. “I already knew how it worked and I already knew how important a weekly paper would be for Plant City.”
She previously worked at the Bradenton Herald, the New York Times at the Sarasota Herald, and the Tampa Tribune.
When she came on board, Berry was already publishing two In the Field magazines which cover agriculture in both Hillsborough and Polk counties.
In addition to In the Field, she decided to publish for the Observer as well after being invited by Verner.
The Observer initially operated in the Lee Building on Reynolds Street in downtown Plant City.
The building was a hub for dining as it had occupied 10 restaurants over the years.
The Observer briefly relocated to a building on Alexander Street, before returning to the Lee Building.
Along with Berry as the publisher, the newspaper team consists of: Sarah Holt, managing editor; Taylor Jenkins, associate editor and sports/staff writer; Brian Fernandes, staff writer; Juan Alvarez, editorial designer; Linda Lancaster, circulation/office manager; and Richard Brame, account executive.
Lancaster has been with the Observer since the very beginning.
Interacting with others whether by phone or in person is something she enjoys, Lancaster said.
Handling the newspaper’s obituaries gives her the opportunities to hear others’ stories and help console them.
“It gives me the pleasure to talk with families that are going through hard times with losing a loved one, and a lot of times I end up knowing these people, and I talk and it’s comforting,” Lancaster said. “That’s one of my favorite parts of my job.”
She credits the comradery among the employees and the assistance of the community as to why the paper has lasted as long as it has.
Jenkins echoed the same sentiments, having gratitude for the city playing a pivotal role in the Observer’s weekly operations, especially when it comes to sports coverage.
“Getting the opportunity to cover sports from all three high schools: Strawberry Crest, Durant, and Plant City is always a challenge,” he said. “There’s a lot going on at any given time, especially throughout the school year when there’s numerous sports going on at the same time. But it’s a ton of fun and I love telling their stories.”
Aside from sports, Jenkins also provides other additions to the Observer with Cops Corner, Around Town, News Briefs, Cutest Critter, and assists Lancaster with obituaries.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the newspaper was able to thrive while other publications and establishments didn’t.
With the uncertainty of the situation, ads were lost.
However, Berry and Verner credit teamwork and the advertisers who remained for helping the Observer weather the storm.
Berry said that while the newspaper continues to learn and grow, it will move forward as a voice for Plant City.
“I think because of everybody as a group, as a team, it gelled and worked, and it’s still working even without the other entities that are bigger than us,” she said. “We found our own way as being local owners and I’m proud of our team and what we do, and being in the community and listening and hearing them.”