Rural Missouri - January 2023 - 30

right to supply electricity to the Missouri State Hospital to
one of his former legal clients instead of allowing Callaway
Electric to continue serving the load. It would fight for lowcost
power when it challenged the state over its attempt to
limit power production at Truman Dam.
More recently, its reporting on an EPA measure that
would have halted low-cost power from electric co-op
power plants resulted in readers sending more than
200,000 " Stop EPA " postcards to Missouri's congressional
delegation.
Those early Rural Electric Missourians were more newspaper
than magazine. When they weren't taking on all
challengers with fiery editorials they taught members
how to use electricity and reported on the latest efforts to
extend electricity into the countryside.
That would begin to change as Marion McGee took over
as editor in 1962. He began the use of feature photos along
with an easier-to-read design and coverage of rural living.
Editors Bill Matteson and Don Yoest took the use of
photography to new levels as these editors added talented
photojournalists to the staff. In August 1968, a headline
reading " Our changing face " greeted readers. " Our cover
this month features process color photographs for the
first time ever. While this printing process is quite expensive
and cannot be a regular feature of your magazine, it
is hoped that it can be used on special occasions in the
future, " a story on the new design related.
The changes paid off as Missouri won the first of six
George W. Haggard Memorial Journalism awards in 1973.
The honor recognizes the electric cooperative statewide
publication that best presents " lucid, forthright contributions
to electric cooperative objectives. " The latest of these
awards came in 2019 and 2021.
Perhaps Editor Steve Rudloff brought about the biggest
change to the publication when he and his staff
announced a new name - Rural Missouri - in October
1978. " Although we have taken the word 'electric' out of
our name, we still are the official publication of the Association
of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, " Steve wrote. " We
are proud of this. It's a privilege for us to enter your home
each month, and we hope you like our new look. "
That issue sported a full-page color photo on the cover,
a look that continues today. But it would be many years
before the inside carried anything but black-and-white
images.
In 1987, Don Wood left Ozark Electric Cooperative
to take the helm as editor. He brought his cooperative's
members with him, swelling the circulation to more than
300,000 for the first time. Before he would turn the magazine
over to current editor Jim McCarty, Don would do his
best to get every electric cooperative in the state on board
sending the magazine to members.
With the addition of Citizens Electric's 17,000 members
to the fold in 2001, Rural Missouri's circulation topped
437,000 and passed Missouri Conservationist as the largest
monthly in the state. That number continues to increase
From left: Associate Editor Heather Berry selects a cover from slides using a light table. Slides had to be enlarged by 1,000 percent or more
in those days. Editor Jim McCarty and former Editorial Assistant Linda Bolten show off the first issue published in January 1948. Jim McCarty and
Advertising Manager Mary Davis design pages during the transition to computers, which began in 1990. Jim McCarty and Jeff Joiner do a press check
on the April 1989 issue being printed at Tribune Publishing Co. in Columbia.
30 RURAL MISSOURI | JANUARY 2023

Rural Missouri - January 2023

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Rural Missouri - January 2023