About Us

CONTACT INFORMATION

PHONE NUMBER: 252-332-2123

Staff

• Cal Bryant, Editor
• Brian Pavlick, Director of Advertising
• Brenda Adams, Circulation Director
• Patrick Bryant, Multimedia Manager
• Thadd White, Sports Editor
• Calvin Askew, Production Manager

History

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The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald traces its roots to 1909 where the Ahoskie Patriot was owned by James White and D.E. Greene. The sole purpose of the creation of the newspaper was to “promote advertisement.” In the early days, the paper carried very little editorial content and was printed as far away as Norfolk, Va and Raleigh and shipped back to Ahoskie for distribution.

In 1910, an Imperial Tobacco Co. buyer moved to Ahoskie and purchased the paper. His name was W.G. Smith and he renamed the product The Hertford County Herald.

Within a couple of years, James S. Vinson was brought in to handle the print shop for the newspaper and became co-owner.

In 1915, a young, energetic young man, J. Roy Parker, purchased Smith’s half of the business and a printing and publishing partnership was formed called Vinson and Parker.

In 1928, Roy Parker’s brother, J. Mayon Parker, purchased Vinson’s half of the business, creating a family-owned operation that would last until the late-1980s.

By 1931, the company had acquired four more local papers – the Windsor Ledger, which was later sold; the Jackson News; Aulander Advance and the Gates County Index.

The firm was incorporated in 1940 and history was in the making.

Roy Parker served as editor from 1915 until his death in 1957.

In 1962, the Daily Roanoke-Chowan Times, a publication in Murfreesboro, merged with The Herald to form a tri-weekly newspaper. The Herald was printed Mondays and Fridays and the Roanoke-Chowan Times was printed Wednesdays.

This operation continued until 1977 when, for the first time, all three publications were printed under the name The Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.

In the early 1980s, the name was shortened once again to The News-Herald and in 1988 was sold to Park Communications based out of New York.

By 1995, following Park’s death, the newspaper was sold twice within an 18-month period and ended up under the leadership of Media General, Inc. based out of Richmond, Va.

In 1996, yet another milestone transformed.

As the Jackson News progressed in Northampton County in the early days, a second newspaper based in Rich Square, the Roanoke Times, merged to form the Northampton Times-News. In the late-1970s, this newspaper was renamed The Northampton News.

In 1996 the Northampton News and The News-Herald merged to form the newspaper known today as the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald.

All along, and with numerous personnel changes over the years, the newspaper continues to thrive on local, community coverage.

In 2000, the newspaper was sold again to Boone Newspapers, based out of Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Owner Jim Boone, who began the Suffolk News-Herald in the 1960s, strongly believes in community newspapers that provide local readers the information they need on a regular basis and at the same time offers newcomers a complete overview of what the local area has to offer.

Today, Roanoke-Chowan Publications, LLC remains with Boone Newspapers. The local company publishes the tri-weekly (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald, the weekly Gates County Index (Wednesday) and the Roanoke-Chowan Shopper, a weekly (Thursday) TMC product. It also offers web commercial printing for numerous other publications.

Information

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Ahoskie is located in the southern portion of Hertford County – in the heart of the Roanoke-Chowan Area.

The Roanoke-Chowan gets its name from the two rivers that border most of the area to the north and south, the Roanoke and the Chowan. Both rivers are major tributaries to the Albemarle Sound.