Becoming a newspaper editor was a childhood dream come true for Sara Clifford. She’d started editing friends’ papers in high school and imagined it was a job that she might be able to do someday.
For the past 12 years, she has served Brown County, providing news on Nashville and countless other boards and events, ensuring that readers have clear, unbiased and well-researched information at their fingertips.
Now, she’s hanging up her press cap for a different, but similar venture.
As of Sept. 7, Clifford will begin work as managing editor of the Indiana Journal of Earth Sciences, based at the Indiana Geological and Water Survey at Indiana University. There, she will be guiding scientific articles through the process of publication in a scientific journal. She also will be responsible for spreading the news of that research to other scientists and to the public.
“I think there’s a lot of value in people understanding how scientists go about their research and the conclusions that they draw, and I’m really excited about that,” Clifford said.
The journal deals with the natural world, which Clifford said she has been spending a lot of time in for the good of her mental and physical health. “That’s something very near and dear to my heart,” she said.
“I’m looking forward to exploring a career field that’s similar but very different.”
This week, Brown County Democrat reporter-photographer Suzannah Couch will step into the editor’s role. Couch has been reporting with The Democrat since Aug. 25, 2014 — seven years to the day that she accepted the job as editor.
Closing a chapter
Clifford’s newspaper experience spans two decades, starting with The DePauw student newspaper in Greencastle. She also was associate news editor at the Vincennes Sun-Commercial, then planned and wrote for six feature sections as lifestyle editor at the Times-Mail in Bedford.
She and her husband, Derek, moved to Brown County in 2005 and Clifford started working for The Democrat on Nov. 2, 2009.
Under her guidance and leadership, The Democrat has been awarded three Hoosier State Press Association Nondaily Blue Ribbon wins, six finalist finishes, two Story of the Year honors and 11 General Excellence awards, and Clifford has earned first-place awards for news, feature, column and headline writing; newspaper design; use of graphics; community service journalism; and sections focusing on the outdoors, business and the arts.
This year, Clifford was the winner of the HSPA’s Nina Mason Pulliam Environmental Journalism Award for an analysis of stream sample results and their intersection with the Friends of Lake Monroe Watershed Management Project.
Starting at The Democrat as editor was equal parts exciting and terrifying, she said. She was 29 with a 2-year-old and had been a commuter out of the county to Bedford for nearly five years. “I basically just slept here,” she said. “I had to learn my community in a whole new way.”
She also knew that elders in the community were watching her. “It was comforting, but also intimidating,” she said.
“I had to really set people at ease; I was going to listen, I was going to seek to understand, and I was not going to make changes just because I felt like making changes. And I hope that I’ve done a good job at really striking that balance over the years.”
Over the years, Clifford has found her role as editor encompassing many other roles: reporter, website manager, social media manager, confidant and listening ear.
She gives credit to mentors like Brown County resident Bob Gustin, editor at The Republic, and Mike Lewis, editor at the Times-Mail who had grown up in Brown County and had been the editor of The Democrat in the ‘90s. “I had those two people to lean on and it was extremely helpful,” she said.
Now the mother of three children, one struggle she’s found is balancing personal and professional life. This is not a job that shuts off while at home.
“They’re older now, they have more activities and more demands, and I’m missing a lot,” she said, “with all of my night meetings and constantly being connected.”
Though challenges have presented themselves over the past decade, Clifford also spoke to the rewards of her time at The Democrat, especially getting to know people and their unique stories.
“I find listening is so valuable, and that really helps me understand where a person is coming from and why they might behave a certain way,” she said.
“Everybody has a unique story that shapes who they are, and I’ve loved getting to know the characters of Brown County.”
One of the biggest lessons she’s learned in her time at the editor’s desk was to appreciate people for who they are and not get upset for who they are not.
“I feel like people have given me a lot of grace in life and in this job, and I want to give that back to people, always,” she said.
The family will continue to live in Brown County. “Me leaving this job has nothing to do with my love and commitment to Brown County; I just needed to try something different with my life,” she said.
Opening another
Before joining the staff of The Democrat, Couch had worked as a caregiver for Home Helpers, serving clients with dementia and Alzheimer’s. When the job opening came up at the paper, where she’d interned three years earlier, she was hired on for her first official journalist position after graduating from Franklin College.
She’d also worked at the Statehouse File and spent five months as a public relations intern for Sen. Richard Lugar in Washington, D.C.
Couch always thought about living in a big city, but once she was in D.C., she missed going places without relying on a metro, only dealing with one traffic light and being able to see the stars.
“It was fun, but helped shaped my future goals and dreams,” she said.
Now, she said her life has come full circle, having grown up in Brown County, been the editor of Brown County High School’s Talon newspaper, and having visited The Democrat newsroom as a child with her mother.
“I’ve always said I could go to another paper and earn a dollar an hour more, but I wouldn’t have the passion that I do for Brown County,” she said.
“Brown County is unique. I enjoy constantly learning about it. I enjoy learning, hearing from and understanding people. I’ve learned so much in the last seven years about the community I’ve called home for 31 years.”
“We are fortunate to have a talent such as Suzannah’s available and sitting on the bench, if you will,” said Bud Hunt, group publisher for AIM Media Indiana, owner of the newspaper.
“Suzannah has a passion for her community and a passion for good journalism. I believe that’s a combination readers will enjoy and appreciate as she takes on this leadership role. One of the most important things she learned under Sara Clifford’s tutelage was the importance of providing a trusted news outlet, both in print and digital formats, to our readers.”
Couch’s Brown County roots span seven generations. She lives on ancestral land she shares with her family. She plans to one day build her own home there.
“I have roots here, and they’re not going away anytime soon,” she said. “They’ll only deepen with this new role.”
She is ready for the challenge to make sure people are well informed.
“Especially now more than ever, with a distrust of media, I’m ready for the challenge to prove ourselves and prove that we’re quality journalists who care about our community,” she said.
“I want people to know that I’m here for them and ready to hear from them. No matter your background, I’m dedicated to being a fair listener and fair reporter. My door is always open.”
While her college years were a great experience, she said she learned more as a reporter — and as a person — under Clifford’s leadership.
“There’s just something special about having a boss — a leader — that listens to you, sees you as a teammate and allows you to go after a story idea, direct you in a caring way to make a story better,” she said. “Brainstorming with her is one of my favorite things. I feel like we really connected and worked well together and that was just something you can’t get in college. I will miss her and I’m honored to follow in her footsteps, but my goodness: do I have big shoes to fill.”
Their relationship developed into something Couch said not all reporters and editors have, and for that she is grateful.
“I couldn’t be happier for her next step,” Couch said. “I’m really excited for the future of this newspaper, it’s still bittersweet for the closing of this chapter, but I think it’s going to be good for everyone. I’m excited for us and our community.”
Clifford looks forward to Couch’s move into the role and what the future holds for herself and The Democrat.
“Suzannah Couch is going to be an amazing editor,” Clifford said. “I’ve watched her for a third of her life grow from a college intern to a very capable, smart, responsible, caring journalist. And I’m so proud that she gets to take on this responsibility in her hometown.
“This is the way it’s supposed to be.”
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Read more” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
[sc:pullout-text-end]