For The Record is a captivating film telling the story of a newspaper called The Canadian Record, the daily hardships it faces and dedication it requires to publish a newspaper in the rural Texas panhandle in today’s modern world.
In a podcast with Ryan M. Brooks from Humanities on the High Plains, Laurie Brown, publisher of The Canadian Record, explained the challenges of publishing a newspaper in a small Texas town.
“In a small town, you can’t afford to have a huge staff,” Brown said. “I was the photographer, editor, reporter; you do everything.”
This film also expresses the challenges of publishing a newspaper in a world that is becoming increasingly more digital.
“Our industry has generally been based on advertising; that’s the business model for newspapers,” Brown said. “It’s really hard to sell advertising in an era when businesses are putting their own ads on their own Facebook pages.”
Heather Courtney, who directed For The Record, has been in the film industry for about twenty-five years. Courntey first heard about The Canadian Record when she was looking for a story to film a rural documentary on.
“I wound up going to Canadian to spend a few days, and within a few hours of being in The Canadian Record newsroom, I knew that the story was The Canadian Record,” Courtney said. “The important stories they report for their community and the fight to keep their important news source alive.”
This film also relates the challenges of publishing a newspaper through changing politics, during COVID, the panhandle wildfires and how vital this newspaper is to this rural Texas community.
“I feel compelled to keep people informed, and that is what I’ve done for the last 32 years,” Brown said.
Courtney explained that the process of telling this story and creating the film took five years, during which she had to overcome obstacles in order to film.
“The process was affected by a lot of outside factors – the first time I filmed was in July 2017, and didn’t get back to filming again until July 2019,” Courtney said. “I filmed a few times that year and then Covid happened. It made the story of this struggling small-town newspaper even more interesting but made it hard to film again until August 2020.”
Courtney also spoke of Brown’s inspirational story and working with her throughout this process.
“Laurie has more integrity than anyone I’ve ever met, and it was this, her connection to her community, and her fierce dedication to keep her struggling paper alive that inspired me to keep making the film,” Courtney said.
In turn, Brown praises Courtney’s work during her interview with Brooks.
“I think Heather’s film completely captured that whole story and very accurately,” Brown said.
“Heather Courtney made a beautiful film. I am really proud of it, and I’d love many people to see it because I think it has an important message.”
For The Record will be shown in the Sybil B. Harrington Fine Arts Complex on Oct. 10th from 12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.. There will also be a Q&A with film director Courtney and publisher of The Canadian Record Brown.
