by Kevin Clang
Don Bolden covered Alamance County for the Burlington Times-News for over fifty years (Photo from Times-News)
One month before the Berlin Wall fell, Don Bolden was traveling through Gagra, Georgia, with strict orders from the government not to photograph anything. Bolden was traveling with a local Burlington school group under the guise of an “education consultant,” having been refused a visa as a reporter. Gagra was still being controlled by the Soviet Union. In response to recent uprisings, martial law had been enacted and soldiers roamed the streets.
It was just too good a story for the journalist in Bolden to ignore. As soon as he was sure that none of the locals were looking, Bolden quickly snapped a few pictures of three martial law troops. When they saw what he was doing, the troops quickly turned, confronting Bolden and assaulting him with their bayonets. “Eventually I was able to convince them that I was photographing the swans nearby,” said Bolden.
A Half-Century in the Community
In over fifty years as a photographer, writer and editor at the Burlington Times-News and as a member of Elon University’s School of Communications‘ advisory board, Don Bolden has seen and done it all. One can sense this almost immediately when they sit down with him. As a student journalist it would have been easy to get intimidated, but Bolden’s soothing voice and genial attitude instantly puts you at ease. Despite the lure of cushier jobs at bigger papers in larger cities, Bolden never felt the need to leave his hometown. “I had opportunities to go elsewhere, but I enjoy small towns,” he said, “I knew the community so well.”
Bolden’s first love was photography, which was introduced to him by his father. “I processed film for the school paper and yearbook,” he said. Ultimately Bolden’s student work made it into the Times-News. ‘I was able to travel to their headquarters and meet the staff,” Bolden said. He joined the Times-News first in 1948, starting at the circulation desk and working his way up to photography and writing jobs. He became editor in 1982, a job he held for eleven years.
Bolden in Burlington
The town of Burlington has changed significantly in Bolden’s many years working in it. “In the 1940s there were 25,000 people, mostly working the textile and hosiery businesses,” said Bolden, “we were the beginning of the Bible Belt.” Today the population of Burlington has almost doubled, despite the textile industry disappearing in 1969. “We are much more diverse now,” he said. Bolden has published two books on the history Alamance County, one detailing the city during World War Two and one collection of photographs from the twentieth century.
Bolden views this type of connection to one’s neighborhood as an important part of any reporter’s job. “Know the community you write in, have a working relationship with them,” he says, “Be a leader.” In doing so, the paper and the reporter have closer relationships to the reader, which gives them more incentive to read the newspaper. “Support local community activities . . . always try to change things for the better.”
How to Fix Newspapers
“Newspapers are struggling to find their role in society,” says Bolden, who thinks the emergence of cable and internet news as popular resources have transformed journalism forever, and not necessarily for the better. Bolden believes that the only way newspapers can survive is to stick local, devoting most of their attention to things like local obituaries, sports and news. “Go deeper, ask questions. ‘Why’ is much more important than ‘what,’” he Bolden believes. “It’s a scary time for papers,” he said, adding “when the economy rebounds, papers will be back.”
For aspiring journalists, Bolden has clear advice: “Make sure this is what you want to do.” Since the job can be very stressful and has no definitive hours, students have to be sure that they like it before committing. At times he found the constant work to be taxing, but according to Bolden “I have a very understanding wife, and that helps.” In the end, Don Bolden would not trade his experiences for anything. “It’s a real kick,” he said, adding to students “enjoy the ride.”
