Newspaper vice president to be inducted in Missouri Press Hall of Fame

Wally Lage, vice president of the Southeast Missourian and chief operating officer for Rust Communications, will be inducted into the Missouri Press Association Hall of Fame class of 2008 in September.

"I'm flattered, and I'm honored," Lage said. "I'm flattered that the Rust family would nominate me. I'm honored to go through the class with Gary Rust. Just to be in that same class is fantastic."

Lage was nominated by the Rust family. Gary W. Rust, chairman of the board for Rust Communications, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2003.

"We are proud to nominate Wally Lage to the Missouri Press Association Hall of Fame," said the Rust family on the nomination form. "He is an honorable man of remarkable ability, who has quietly influenced the history of newspapers in Missouri and the nation in dramatic ways."

Lage has a long career in journalism, which started after he was drafted into the military in 1966 as a first lieutenant. He was assigned to Fort McClellan, Ala., where he founded the Fort McClellan News. According to the nomination form from the Rust family, his experience at Fort McClellan piqued Lage's interest in journalism and demonstrated "how he was helping to quietly innovate in ways with broad consequences."

Lage went on to obtain his master's degree with a focus on news-editorial at the University of Missouri Journalism School in 1971. While at school, Lage worked many positions at the Boonville Daily News, as sports editor, editor, assistant publisher and finally publisher.

Instead of completing a thesis with his degree, Lage used the Boonville Daily News to test his theory that circulation would increase significantly if the paper reported exclusively on local news. The paper dropped its Associated Press news wire service. Lage's theory turned out to be correct as circulation and profits increased sharply.

One of Lage's local news initiatives at the Boonville newspaper was a telephone answering service where local residents could call in and receive updates all day long. He said he updated the service 24 hours a day with anything from baseball scores to crime information.

"People would be calling all the time," he said.

By age 25, Lage was the publisher of the Boonville Daily News and of free publications in Jefferson City, Mo., and Columbia, Mo. Lage continued with Winsor Newspapers in Canton Ill., the owner of the Boonville paper until 1984. During his tenure with the company, he founded several weekly newspapers, including the Messenger Publishing Co. in Terre Haute, Ind.

From 1984 to 1993, Lage was the vice president of newspaper operations for the Paxton Media Group and a general manager of the Paducah Sun.

Lage came to work for Rust Communications in 1993. Since his arrival, Lage has helped the company acquire or start up 50 newspapers in eight states. He said one of the best decisions he made in his career was to avoid working for publicly owned media companies and to stay with the family-run companies.

"Looking back, the most important decision I made was to follow my gut to go with families who cared about their communities," Lage said. "A newspaper is reflective of the values of the community and when the newspaper is owned by a family, that is nearly always a win-win" situation.

Lage will step down from his position as chief operating officer for Rust Communications in 18 months. He said he will stay on with the company for four more years primarily as a consultant.

"I just want to help," Lage said. "I don't want to go. It's a lot of fun."

Lage has been involved in the community since coming to Cape Girardeau. For more than a decade, he was an executive committee member of the board of directors for the Saint Francis Medical Center. He has been a Lions Club member for 28 years and was a board member for chambers of commerce and churches in several communities.

The Missouri Press Association will induct four other men into the hall of fame: Ed Lee, the late publisher of the Savannah Reporter; the late David Steinbeck, publisher of the Canton-Press News Journal; Robert Blosser, retired president of the News Tribune in Jefferson City, Mo.; and Chuck Haney, former publisher of the Chillicothe Constitution-Tribune.

This year's honorees will be inducted at the Missouri Press Association's 142nd annual convention Sept. 11 in Columbia.

tthomas@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 197

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