UBJ focus: where are they now?
Bern Mebane is back in the newspaper game By Charles Sowell | staff
In January of 1999, Bern Mebane folded up his signature bow tie and walked out of the offices of Gannett and into retirement at age 50. The longtime Greenville News publisher’s retirement lasted about two months. “I was bored. I guess I outgrew golf,” said Mebane, sitting in the well-appointed conference room of the office space he rents at the intersection of Stone Avenue and Interstate 385. Working with a local venture capitalist, Mebane put together Crescent Publications and quickly
at a glance
“Bern was passionate about quality journalism, understood the importance of watchdog reporting and always backed us up on the tough stories through the years.”
1949:
Born and lived in Rutherfordton, N.C.
1971:
Graduates University of North Carolina and starts work with Multimedia
John Pittman , Greenville News executive editor purchased several local weekly newspapers as well as papers from the Gulf Coast to Maine. Working with the small weeklies was a big change for the former Gannett regional publisher. “The hardest thing for me to get used to was no longer having a staff,” he said. “I spent most of my career in dailies,
through some of the best times and some of the worst.” Mebane came to the Greenville News right out of the University of North Carolina in 1971. “I came here with a temporary full-time job and left 28 years later,” he said. “It was a great time to work in the newspaper industry.” The launch of Multimedia brought the News from family ownership and into the corporate newspaper model. “Kelly Sisk and later Wilson Wern brought in television and with that entertainment in the form of Phil Donahue when we bought Cincinnati (WLWT-TV),” he said. Cable TV came next and then the Gannett takeover, Mebane said. “That was when we crossed over in the big leagues,” he said. “We found out Gannett’s model was just like ours, just on a far bigger scale. They were into everything we were, except for cable and when they bought us they got that, too.” Mebane considers himself more of a trader in newspaper companies than a publisher these days. When he was publisher at the News, Mebane was always nattily dressed in suit and bow tie. He still pulls out his old uniform when the occasion calls for it, but today seems far more comfortable in an open-collared shirt and slacks.
1995:
Gannett purchases News from Multimedia
1999:
Mebane retires from News at age 50
1999:
Starts Crescent Publications
He’s 63 with six children and a half-dozen grandchildren now. He likes what he does, even though the industry overall has declined sharply. “Right now at our properties on the Gulf Coast, we’re emphasizing online content,” he said. “I know there are a lot of people who really like the feel of a newspaper in their hands. I’m one of them.” Online content saves the evergrowing cost of printing, and helps hold down staff costs, he said. Mebane splits his time between his duties at Crescent and his farm in North Carolina. “I love that place,” he said. He also spends a lot of time plying a hobby that hasn’t bored him yet: He regularly fly-fishes regional streams and is just back from a salmon fishing trip to Eastern Canada. Contact Charles Sowell at csowell@communityjournals.com.
they said it
“Bern Mebane taught me much of what I know about the newspaper business. I was fortunate to have worked for him for many years.” Steve Brandt, Greenville News Publisher
NOVEMBER 9, 2012 | Upstate business 15