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By Haley Huie
Rappahannock News Staff Writer
Executive Editor John Toler has seen a little bit of everything during his career at the Fauquier TimesDemocrat, everything from hot lead to computers. Throughout all the changes, he knew that this was where he wanted to be.
“I don’t really recall any time I thought I wouldn’t be here,” he said on Friday, the day after a public reception at the Times-Democrat’s Culpeper Street offices celebrating his 40 years with the organization. “A lot of people come here to get their start in the business, and then go on to other careers. But this is what I’ve always wanted to do.”
Toler got his start in the newspaper business as a coeditor of the Fauquier High Falconer, back in 1964.
He started at the Democrat as an advertising sales representative in the summer of 1967, while he was studying English at the University of Virginia.
From there, he was promoted to associate advertising manager in 1971. He was named the general manager in 1975, and vice president in 1980. He has held his favorite position, executive editor, for the past 10 years.
On the professional side, Toler has been involved with the Virginia Press Association since the early 1970s, and was first elected to its board of directors, a position he currently holds, in 1989. He served as president of the VPA in 2002-03.
Toler takes his role as executive editor very seriously.
“We have a critical constitutional responsibility that we must strive to fulfill at all times, including giving a voice to everyone in our community,” he noted. Recent awards recognizing the TimesDemocrat’s coverage of stories dealing with diversity and human rights issues have meant a lot to Toler.
He has also learned that working at a newspaper provides the opportunity to do good, or inflict harm — illustrating how careful journalists and editors must always be.
“And we are aware that ‘power not used is power abused,’ but just because you
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