Publisher Keith Barlow leaving newspaper for 'new adventure' in North Ga.

May 25—Keith Barlow, longtime publisher of The Union-Recorder, and The Lake Oconee Breeze, is leaving the newspaper for "a new adventure" in North Georgia.

Even though he is leaving a lot of memories behind and a job he loved, he is not retiring from the newspaper industry.

Instead, he is embarking on a new journey in life.

It's one that will still keep him in the newspaper industry.

Barlow recently accepted a job with Community Newspapers Inc.

Alan NeSmith, chairman of Community Newspapers Inc., recently announced that Barlow will become the new publisher of The Northeast Georgian and regional publisher of the Northeast Georgia region for Community Newspapers, Inc. The region consists of the following newspapers: The Dahlonega Nugget, White County News, The Clayon Tribune, The Toccoa Record, Franklin County Citizen Leader, The Hartwell Sun and The Elberton Star.

"We are excited to have Keith join Team CNI," NeSmith said of Barlow's new position. "Keith is an outstanding newspaperman and just the right fit for Habersham County. I look forward to our community getting to know Keith and his family."

For nearly 29 years, Barlow worked at Georgia's oldest continuously published newspaper on two different occasions.

"When I left The Union-Recorder the first time, I think I was gone for about

4 1/2 years and I owned a marketing company with (another businessman)," Barlow said.

During that time he and his business partner purchased and later sold a weekly newspaper in Milledgeville, known as The Baldwin Bulletin.

When he returned to The Union-Recorder less than five years after he departed to go into business for himself, he served as general operations manager. A short time later he was named publisher of the five-day a week published newspaper. Today, the newspaper is published three times a week — Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday.

The newspaper, now more than 200 years old, was owned for many years by Knight-Ridder. But in 1997, CNHI, LLC purchased The Union-Recorder. CNHI, LLC, which is headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama, was founded in 1997 and is now one of the largest community newspaper companies in America. They own a number of publications in several states.

For the past several years, Barlow has served as a member on the board of directors of the Georgia Press Association. Today, he serves as treasurer of the state organization. At the upcoming June meeting of GPA, Barlow will move up to the role as vice president of GPA. He will become president of the newspaper organization after serving as vice president for a year.

"I thoroughly enjoy working with the members of the GPA board of directors," Barlow said. "There's some really good people on the board, and really good people who love the newspaper industry and are doing everything they possibly can to keep newspapers a valuable asset in Georgia communities."

Barlow said newspapers are extremely important to communities.

"You always hear that they are the watchdogs of a community and they truly are," Barlow said. "There's no other organization that would do what newspapers do for communities. I feel that newspapers are a very credible source for news in communities in a world of such social media today. I feel that newspapers can be trusted, and certainly that's been in the case here at The Union-Recorder."

Barlow said the backbone of a good newspaper starts with having good employees.

"We have a batch of wonderful employees here at The Union-Recorder," Barlow said before his last day with the newspaper on Friday. "We have several people who have been here a long time and some folks who have been here only a short time. We have been blessed to have a wonderful group of employees here at The Union-Recorder."

Barlow said The Union-Recorder, which celebrated its 200th anniversary under his leadership, was a wonderful place to work, and exactly what he and his family wanted and needed for so many years.

"So, I couldn't have asked for a better place to have worked," Barlow said.

He reflected a little bit on his departure from the newspaper, as well as from the community.

"It will be sad leaving this community," Barlow said. "Paige and I went to college here. Paige and I married here. And Paige and I raised a family here. So, 100% I will miss the community and I will miss the organizations that I have been a part, including Rotary International. It's a fantastic organization in town. And I will miss the Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber is so vitally important to the community, just like a newspaper. It's needed in a community. And our Chamber does such a fantastic job here."

Barlow said as much as he will miss those two community organizations that he also will greatly miss the members.

He also said he and his wife will greatly miss their fellowship at First Methodist Church in Milledgeville.

"We've been part of First Methodist since before it moved out to its present location on Log Cabin Road," Barlow said. "We will miss everybody at the church, including the pastors and the staff."

His wife taught art classes for many years in the Putnam County Charter School System. Since 2017, she has taught at Georgia Military College Prep School in Milledgeville. She is retiring at the completion of the 2023-24 school year.

"We plan to come back and visit as often as we can, and I've told everybody that I have talked to that we hope people will come up and visit us," Barlow said. "We'd love to have our friends from Milledgeville and visit us up in North Georgia."

Barlow and his wife leave their own individual footprints and legacies in Milledgeville — Keith in the newspaper industry and Paige through education.

"She's been fortunate to have worked with two great school systems," Barlow said. "She worked in the Putnam County Charter School System for many years. She loved it. And when she moved to Georgia Military Prep that was another awesome school system."

The Barlows will make their new home in Habersham County.

Now that the Barlows have decided to embark on a new adventure in their lives, they will be closer to family members, including their sons, Kevin and Branden. Kevin is an accountant in Brookhaven while Branden is a rising junior at The University of Georgia. He is studying political science pre-law.

Barlow has lived in Baldwin County for a little more than 38 years and is a 1990 graduate of Georgia College & State University. He grew up in Macon-Bibb County and is a graduate of Southwest High School in Macon. After high school, he attended Mercer University in Macon for a year before he transferred to Georgia College in Milledgeville.

While in college, Barlow joined the Air Force Reserves in 1988. He spent eight years in the Air Force Reserves.

His father has been a Methodist preacher for more than 40 years. His parents, Eugene and Jolene Barlow, live in Centerville. His dad is the pastor of Rogers United Methodist Church near Macon.