Former Professor Launches Online Paper in Tennessee

By: Sam Chamberlain Former college professor Marcus Sheffield has launched an online newspaper, the Wolftever Times, serving three communities in southeastern Tennessee.

A resident of Collegedale, Tenn., one of the three communities the paper serves (the other two are Apison and Ooltewah), Sheffield officially launched the site last Tuesday. The Wolftever Times (named for a creek that connects the three communities) represents what Sheffield calls "a new adventure in life."

"In 2007 I decided to leave my position [as a professor of English at Collegedale's Southern Adventist University] and move to California to help my aging parents," Sheffield told E&P. "As it turns out, my father had Alzheimer's, and is, unfortunately, in the last stages of that terrible disease."

After returning to Tennessee in 2008, he says, "I wanted to find a way to use my writing skills after a long career in teaching about writing. My sister read about a couple of newspaper guys in California who had been downsized from their newspaper. They started an online paper of their own, and it took off. She suggested I try the same thing, and I did."

At the moment, Sheffield is subject to many of the restrictions start-ups face. As of Monday he only has one ad on the homepage, for a local hair salon, which he offered for free. "I see the site as an excellent opportunity for local businesses, which may be tired of seeing residents head past them to other retailers outside our region," Sheffield says. "On the advice of my web designer, I plan on limiting advertising in one per screen view. This will give advertisers maximum effect."

In addition, Sheffield only has one official staff member: himself. He expects that to change, though, as he reaches out to aspiring journalists around the area, including student's at Southern Adventist's School of Journalism and Communication.

"I'm planning on a true newspaper with a paid staff if possible," Sheffield wrote. "I would prefer local writers ... I want to cover the usual beats such as city hall and local politics ... but I also want to find out what the average person is doing."

Part of that mission is publishing sermon summaries from local churches. "People in this region are mostly church people. They spend time in church," Sheffield explains. "Well, why can't we hear what's going on in this area of life we sometimes push off into a corner in the traditional newspaper? Sermons, in my view, ought to be news."

For now, however, Sheffield is content to concentrate on his main goal, steady growth. "I've decided to start with ... a new item or two every day. However, I want to grow until I feel we're truly reaching deep into this beautiful area of Hamilton County. I want to treat this area as if it were New York City and make wolftevertimes.com the go-to site for local people."