Career change opens door to ‘greatest opportunity of life’
By GEORGIA PURDY

WILLIS AND JULIE WEBB, left, share a laugh with Jasper Police Captain Buddy Rector during a recent event.

Behind every successful man, there is a backseat driver—a good woman pointing out the potholes as he hurdles along the highway of life. And at some point, usually without his complete awareness, she is sitting in the front seat beside him. In Julie Webb’s case, she was actually encouraged and invited to be an integral part of the ride.

After a 20-year career as a classroom teacher, eight of those in Jasper, Julie retired. She was at home when jury selection for the Shawn Berry case came up. The Newsboy was short of reporters and her husband Willis (Newsboy editor and publisher) asked her to go to the courthouse, take notes, bring them to him and he would write the story.

While it was not her first experience with a newspaper, it was the first time she had done anything like this.

“I worked in advertising sales for about six months at the Lockhart paper years ago,” she said. “Willis took over the paper while I was there, and the second week he walked into my office and said, ‘Is there anything else you know how to do?’ I said, ‘Well, I think I can write and I’m real organized.’”

The paper’s mailing labels were printed on an Apple computer and the operator left. “The day before the paper went to press Willis asked me, ‘Do you know how to turn this thing on?’” I said, ‘Here’s the switch and pushed the button.’ He said, “Okay, you are the new computer person.’”

So, there she was: t e a c h e r-turned-newsreporter on her first day in a courtroom in a high-profile murder case.

“There were all these journalists from everywhere. I didn’t know that one of the four seats in the jury box reserved for news media was for me. I was downstairs listening to the proceedings when I learned I was supposed to be up there. The courtroom was crowded and I had to walk in front of all those people. I was so embarrassed.”

Julie soon forgot the embarrassment because the proceedings captivated her.

“That’s when I got interested in court proceedings and reporting on government,” she said.

Julie continued to go to the court, take notes and talk Willis through the proceedings in order for him to write the stories.

“By the time I finished, I felt like I’d been through the fire and was ready to go forward,” she said. “I learned about documentation, the appropriate ways to word things, to tell the story without using cop lingo.”

She later became The Newsboy’s contributing editor. The learning curve was considerable.

“Willis is a wonderful teacher,” she said. “We had weekly staff meetings to discuss our writing and that helped me be a better writer. He gave us guidance on how to look at a story, the how and why of events. He really stressed the importance of that. He taught us that having a set of questions is important, but you also have to go

where the story leads you. I also had to learn that the newspaper is a team effort. If I didn’t meet a deadline, three others didn’t meet theirs either.”

It wasn’t long before she was covering significant news stories and winning awards.

She was the first newsperson on the scene in Sabine County when the Challenger exploded.

“I interviewed a fouryear old boy who found the first body part,” she said. “He was on a four-wheeler. I didn’t even know fouryear olds rode four-wheelers. The little boy told the story like a small child would and then said, ‘That’s all’ and went back to playing on the swing.”

In the beginning, covering that story wasn’t an emotional strain because she had already covered death and the Newton wildfires.

In 2002, she was awarded first place by the National Newspaper Association for a news story on the backlog of criminal cases in Jasper County.

That story brought about a change. There is now a bail bond board and bondsmen have to be licensed and accountable.

“Now, bonds have actually been revoked and that is a positive outcome,” she said.

Another series of stories Julie is proud of concerned Ted Koppel’s Nightline show, broadcast from Jasper High School. The town hall meeting was a prelude to the documentary Two Towns of Jasper and the HBO movie Jasper, Texas.

“When you work as a reporter in a small town, you walk a fine line,” she said. “You are protective of the community, yet you have to be open to what outsiders say.”

Julie has won numerous awards for various types of writing but for her, the most pleasing experience was knowing that people appreciated The Newsboy staff for covering all areas of news.

“The most gratifying thing for me was having people thank us for shining a light on issues,” she said. “People are interested in what goes on. They are working. They can’t be at the commissioner’s court. They can’t be at trials. They appreciate knowing what is going on.”

In leaving Jasper, Julie shares thoughts of what needs to happen to make a community she loves, be an even better one.

“Jasper is a wonderful place to live and raise a family but there are areas that need attention. The ‘good ol’ boy network needs to be dead and gone. It is dying but it is a slow death.

“People need to remember their history, the lessons we’ve learned over the last 10 years. Race relations need to continue to improve. Churches have grown tremendously in that area. We have a growing Hispanic, Asian and Indian community and we need to talk; we need a dialogue.”

She says she will miss the friendships cultivated in this small town.

“I will miss the people the most. We’ve lived here 16 years and we’ve raised a child here. It is wonderful to know so many people and have so many friendships.”

In conjunction with those close ties and the shared experience of community, being a news reporter in Jasper, Texas is one of the highlights of her life.

“It has been the greatest opportunity of my life to be a reporter for The Jasper Newsboy. It allowed me to write, to learn something new every day, to meet people and to develop friendships. It’s been a wonderful ride.”