[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 50 (Thursday, March 22, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E364]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          RECOGNIZING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ARAB TRIBUNE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. ROBERT B. ADERHOLT

                               of alabama

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 22, 2018

  Mr. ADERHOLT. Mr. Speaker, I want to recognize and honor a monumental 
occasion in the history of journalism in Alabama's Fourth Congressional 
District, which I am proud to represent. On March 27, 1958, 60-years-
ago, The Arab Tribune published its first edition.
  The paper began that first edition by saying, ``With this issue--Vol. 
1, No. 1 of The Arab Tribune . . . a new paper is born. We sincerely 
hope you will like it.'' I believe after six decades of publication, it 
is clear that the people of Arab and Brindlee Mountain more than like 
The Arab Tribune.
  The Tribune began as a vision of Ralph Reed who put the first issues 
into print. Sadly, he died a short time later in a bus accident.
  His brother, Ewell Reed, who was at the time an FBI agent, moved his 
family from Virginia to Arab, where he put down his badge and took up a 
notebook and pencil. He continued his brother's dream and turned The 
Arab Tribune into a success. Since 1970, Ewell's son Ed Reed has been 
the publisher of the paper.
  The Arab Tribune has been in the Reed family for its entire existence 
and that has meant no corporate takeovers dictating news content from a 
faraway city. Quite the contrary, The Arab Tribune was and is community 
focused. Current editor Charles Whisenant, and the reporters at the 
Tribune, make sure the paper is focused on hyper-local content.
  In our current world where people have access to large amounts of 
national and international news, it is ever more important that local, 
community newspapers continue to thrive. Our democracy depends on 
people being engaged, not just in what's happening in Washington, New 
York or Los Angeles, but also what's happening down the street and in 
their local government.
  I congratulate the men and women of The Arab Tribune for six decades 
of putting the people of Arab and Brindlee Mountain first and foremost. 
And I wish them many more years of success as the ``Ledger of Community 
Progress.''

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