Starting a new era for the Bogalusa Daily News

Since 1927, The Bogalusa Daily News has proudly served the community by providing quality journalism and standing as the public journal for the city. As Bogalusa grew to its peak population in the 1970’s, our old building on Avenue V was expanded, remodeled, and reimagined to keep up with the surging audience. When that audience began to shrink, the 12,000 sqft footprint became increasingly empty, and technological advancement allowed a small team of dedicated employees to accomplish what once took dozens.

A few years ago, we officially moved our printing operation out-of-house, and most of the building now resembles a museum more than a newspaper operation. I sometimes wander the still-furnished offices and imagine myself reporting there during the “good old days,” clacking away at a typewriter in a cigarette smoke-filled room late into the evening, pushing a last-minute story to the press after midnight, only to start the process over again the following day.

I thumb through our leather-bound volumes, from the victory in Guadalcanal to the civil unrest of the 1960’s, and onto the first invasion of Iraq to a local column about planting and caring for Hydrangeas. I note the demographic change in the football team photos as the town desegregated, and wonder how the photographer felt developing color photos with faces of many colors for the first time. This paper is almost as old as the town itself, and we have tirelessly documented and photographed every evolution of the last century, good and bad.

Both of my co-workers have been here since the 1980’s, and often reminisce about the heyday of the newspaper. They tell stories of the interesting characters that have come and gone through the years, of the fast-paced and professional men and women that once buzzed through the building at all hours of the night, often to the low rumbling backdrop of a printing press that rarely took a break.

And now, we are moving. Finding a location with a smaller footprint that better suits the needs of a three-person media team while allowing us to stay in Bogalusa and continue the work that we have done for generations. Ideally, improving upon the previous decade of downsizing and starting a wave of enthusiasm for community-based news. Presiding over and accurately documenting a new, more positive era for both the Daily News and the City of Bogalusa.

Our property at 525 Avenue V is listed by Bell Cornerstone, and prospective buyers can reach them at 315-498-1600. We encourage people to stop by and take a look.

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