Every small town has one of them; the town character. It is someone who almost everyone knows about. When their name is mentioned, a reaction is usually given that can vary from a chuckle, a muttered comment, a smile, rolling eyes, or even a shaking of fist, just to name a few. For Turner County, that character is Ben Baker. I can say with confidence that a majority of the citizens know Ben Baker and have had all of those above reactions and more. He just loves it, too. As the editor of The Wiregrass Farmer for almost 30 years, he has made a name for himself. Whether he is in one of his interesting hats, his rainbow Crocs, an old Fire Ant Festival t-shirt, a random wig or two, Ben Baker is exactly who he says he is and always a surprise when he shows because you just never know what you are going to get visually. But one thing you always know, he is exactly who he says he is: honest, personable, and completely himself. Some fear what he may write in the paper, but according to him, “If the truth hurts, yer livin’ wrong.” The Turner County Project sat down with Ben on Friday, April 26, 2024 for a lovely conversation about the importance of small-town newspapers, especially in the year 2024.

J School and Retrospect

Ben Baker: I know a lot about a little and a little about a lot. If I had to do it over again, I would not major in journalism.

Turner County Project: Oh really? Why?

Ben Baker: I would have gotten a general studies degree.

Turner County Project: What could you do with that degree?

Ben Baker: The same thing I do now. I would just simply know more. For instance I took several law classes and I should have taken business law but I didn’t. I took economics, physics, college math, and I am stunned I managed to get into that one. I figured I would have gotten remedial math and the only reason I passed it was because my professor’s wife taught it and he was one of my favorite professors on campus and she took pity on me and let me take tests more than once so I could pass. To answer your question more fully, I would have had a broader base of knowledge going into journalism. I worked all of my professional career in little small community papers. And I never know what I am going to have to cover. I also freelance write on the side and I never know what I am going to write about. I have interviewed strippers, Bill Cosby in the 1980s, famous musicians…

Finding a home Turner County

Turner County Project: I have to put a Turner County spin on this since this is for the Turner County Project. So tell me, what brought you to Turner County? When?

Ben Baker: September 5, 1994, is my first official day working here [at The Wiregrass Farmer]…

Turner County Project: How did you find out about the job at The Wiregrass Farmer? Was there a job posting somewhere?

Ben Baker: Kinda sorta not really. Graduating from college, I had job offers waiting for in Washington D.C., Bainbridge, and Henderson, NV (which is the second biggest city in the state). And I said, I don’t want to go to D.C., Bainbridge is South Georgia and I can always go there because it is home, so we packed up and moved to Nevada. We were out there exactly a year. And we got tired of living out there and I started putting resumes in the mail. I sent a resume to the Tifton Gazette because it was close to home. I had an interview over the phone and they said, “Normally we require a face-to-face interview but you are hired.” 

Turner County Project: To do what?

Ben Baker: To be a general news reporter. And I went to work at the Tifton Gazette. One of my beats was covering Ashburn. I remember when I was working at the Gazette I would come up here and cover the [Ashburn] City Council. Charles Perry was mayor at the time. Willis Collins was Chairman of the [Turner] County Commission. And I remember thinking, “This is a cool place. I would like to move here someday.” I had no idea I would ever wind up doing it. I had an argument with the then-editor of the Tifton Gazette and I ended up moving to Tallahassee for a little bit. And then had a few years in some other small newspapers in Florida. I loved working there but it ain’t home… I started putting resumes in the mail again and put one in the mail to The Wiregrass Farmer when Austin Saxon was still the editor and one went to Bob Tribble in Manchester who owned the paper at the time. They got together and they started talking about it because Austin was ready to retire. Austin had memories of me that were better than reality I think. Austin said he remembered the work I did at the Gazette and he was impressed at how well I did the reporting but that was just the kind of person Austin was. Bob offered me a job and here I am.

Turner County Project: What was it like stepping into The Wiregrass Farmer to fill Austin Saxon’s shoes? He was so beloved by the community, did you feel like you had to step up in a big way or did you go a different route completely to be different?

Ben Baker: I told many people, and I still say this, that if I end my career with half the respect Austin had, I am a success. I did not want to change anything Austin did. He and I were of the same opinion of how a community newspaper should run. It’s all about the community. We just happen to run the thing. It belongs to Turner County. If it is Turner County, it needs to be in the paper. That was his philosophy and that was mine too.

“…If I end my career with half the respect Austin had, I am a success.”

Ben Baker

The Importance of Newspapers in Small Towns

Turner County Project: What has been your favorite part about working as the editor of The Wiregrass Farmer?

Ben Baker: Putting kids in the paper when they do good. Hands down, slam dunk, no question, 100%. One of my favorite stories was covering when the girls’ basketball team went 31 and 0 and won the State Championship when Ronalda Pierce was a senior. Then we have had several other state champions and I have always made them the lead stories that week. Doing things like that is just the best to me.

Turner County Project: I think it is interesting to see these kids who are in the paper for example, to think about how they get their first recognition for their achievements in The Wiregrass Farmer and a lot of kids don’t get that kind of recognition. Seeing it printed is such a big deal. I know my sister’s classes [Mrs. Suzi Mathis’s GATE classes at Turner County Elementary School] look at the paper every single week. They love looking at the archives and seeing their name in print and that is such an important thing for kids.

Ben Baker: That is one of my biggest complaints about the newspaper. I have told every school superintendent that by the end of the year, I want every child in our school system to have his or her picture in the paper at least one time. If you gotta make up a reason, make up a reason. Let’s get them in the paper. And it has never happened. 

Turner County Project: I wish there was a way to get people to buy in and send in stuff to the paper. 

Ben Baker: We have an extraordinary buy-in in this community. I have had other people who come down here and they look at The Wiregrass Farmer and they say “How do you get people so involved in your newspaper?” I don’t know. I give them credit when they write stuff. You get photo credit. You get bylines. I give them credit for it and I also ask for stuff. There are other newspapers that run junk filler in their paper because they can’t get stuff from the community. Almost everything I run is something that is either local, been submitted, affects Turner County in some way, or somebody wants to read about it. 

Turner County Project: I should clarify what I mean by community buy-in… I look at old Wiregrass editions and I don’t mean I want the old comings and goings of members of the community. I loved the gossip from the local correspondents but I don’t need to know that so-and-so went to Tifton. I would love to see more wedding announcements, baby announcements, etc. I think they are just announcing them on Facebook and they think that is enough

Ben Baker: I love them. I want that kind of stuff. I have a long view of things. Facebook is what, 15 years old? Can you go back and show me your very first Facebook post? You might have posted something on Facebook 15 years ago and forgot about it. Yes, it is in the internet ether somewhere. But if you put something in the paper, it is there forever. But that’s the other problem with a newspaper. When I make a mistake in the paper, that mistake is now part of the historical record of Turner County. Even if I go back and make the correction in the next week’s paper, if you only read the mistake and never read the correction, it will be forever wrong in your mind. It haunts me every day when I screw something up. It literally keeps me up at night.

Turner County Project: I get what you mean though. Even if we live in this information age and there is a lot of mass media around, I use a lot of The Wiregrass Farmer archives in my historical research because of the lack of resources. 

Ben Baker: I had a debate with someone when we had a superintendent who was released. I told them “Nobody is going to cover it like I did.” They argued back. I told them to show me. Show me any other media that provided the coverage that I did in regards to that event. And they just went away because they couldn’t find anything. Nobody is going to cover Turner County the way the local newspaper does. Right now I am involved in suing the [Ashburn] City Council because they broke the Sunshine Laws. If we didn’t have a local newspaper here, they would get away with so much worse. Who is going to hold them accountable? That is our job.

Turner County Project: I think it is a hard job. Rocking the boat and making people mad. 

Ben Baker: People do get mad but that is their choice to be mad. What do you want me to do? I tell the truth.

Turner County Project: “If the truth hurts, yer livin’ wrong.” That is one I have heard you use multiple times and I will never forget from you. 1000% Ben Baker.

Ben Baker: That is a Ben Bakerism.

“If the truth hurts, yer livin’ wrong.”

Ben Baker

A 30-year legacy

Turner County Project: So with 30 years almost under your belt at The Wiregrass Farmer, do you have anything that sticks out to you? Some of your craziest stories or biggest stories.

Ben Baker: The one story, if you were to ask any journalist about any story, it is not a breaking news, not a major news, it is nothing important, but if you were to ask most journalists what story they would absolutely want to cover, it would be the cat stuck in a tree story. Several years back when Brian Meadows was the fire chief and literally a cat got stuck up in a tree. They called me, I went, I took pictures, they had to rig one of the expandable ladders and they had to have guys hold the ladder in place because there was nothing they could prop too. This cat had gotten stuck in the mistletoe. It had been up there two days. In journalism school, the cat stuck in the tree is just a journalism trope and I got to cover it for real. Not my favorite story but one that certainly sticks out…

Turner County Project: One thing I love about you Mr. Ben is you are who you are. I feel like there is no artifice. I know what to expect when it comes to you. I know you are not going to lie to me about it and will tell me how it is. “If the truth hurts, yer livin’ wrong.”

Ben Baker: I had someone tell me, “You would rather hurt my feelings than lie to me.” Yeah, pretty much sums it up. That is one of the great things about this job. People come in and they just talk. Sometimes of course it is news but sometimes it just things going on in town. I love that. I have people who come in here and say “Ben, you got to get this straight in the paper.” It usually is not something I did but another media outlet here in South Georgia screws up. Gee, thank you. How do you appreciate something sufficiently like that? Somebody else made a mistake but we know you will get it right. [noises of disbelief.] Wow. I don’t run everything people bring me. Sometimes people come to me just to vent. They think they want it in the paper but once they calm down, they reach out and ask me not to run something. Now I didn’t bother telling them I didn’t have any intention of doing it anyway. Then there are people who come in and they have a problem. This is another great part of my job. Because I am a newspaper editor, I can do things. The editor of the newspaper makes things happen.

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About The People of Turner County Project:

This is an oral history project that works to both preserve, document, and celebrate the people of Turner County and the history through the stories of those who have experienced it.

This project collects oral histories of people who have lived or worked in Turner County, Georgia.