Kim Powers Transitioning to Politics

As Advertising Manager at the Central City News, Kim Powers could be expected to focus her activities on working with business owners in Central and selling traditional newspaper advertising.

However, she and Central City News Business Manager Jolice Provost have done far more than that — they are leading the nation in creating something heretofore unknown. They have created America’s First Video Newspaper® and brought the old tried-and-true printed newspaper into the 21st Century!
It began during the funerals of the three police officers who were assassinated in July 2016. Facebook Live was brand new, and very few people understood it.
Powers, Provost, and Central City News editor Woody Jenkins were covering a funeral procession on Airline Highway. One of them decided to try broadcasting the event on Facebook Live. In just minutes, more than 5,000 people were watching live! The power of Facebook Live was obvious.

The three began to cover news events in Central live on Facebook, including the Great Flood of August 2016. By May 2017, they realized that Facebook Live could become a major revenue source for the newspaper by selling sponsorships.

Powers and Provost went to Sulphur in May 2017 to broadcast the State 5A Championship baseball game between Central and West Monroe. They soon realized the game was one of the first times a high school game in Louisiana was broadcast live on Facebook. The audience was enormous — more than 94,000 viewers!

They were off and running! During the 2017 football season, they broadcast all Central High games drawing 15,000 to 35,000 viewers per game. They continued broadcasting through basketball and baseball seasons. This fall, their brand, Sideline Football®, will expand to other high schools in the Baton Rouge area.

Altogether, Powers and Provost have broadcast more than 100 community events in Central live on Facebook. One day, the duo was talking about QR codes. You can point your phone at a QR code in print and your phone plays a video!

Then Powers and Provost had a brainstorm! Kim Powers said, “We were creating all these great videos of community events, news, and sporting events in Central! Why not use QR codes in the Central City News to link our readers to the videos we are creating?”

She said, “We found that very often when we cover a news event, we take still photos and put them in the paper, and we put the videos on Facebook. But why not put the videos in the newspaper too!”

And that’s how in late 2017 the Central City News became America’s First Video Newspaper®! Many stories and some ads now include a QR code that turns the newspaper reader into a “newspaper viewer”!

The Central City News has a small staff, and everyone does a little bit of everything. In addition to sales, Kim Powers loves to cover news. She covered the Great Flood, the Alton Sterling shooting, and demonstrations at Triple S convenience store and the Baton Rouge Police Headquarters. Often, she was in a small minority.

Kim Powers’ photography and writing have been honored by the Louisiana Press Association with many awards including First Place in feature writing and photography.

Powers is the mother of three girls — Savannah, 21, Ella, 11, and Sara, 10. Ella and Sara are students at Central Intermediate School.

“We love our life in Central,” Powers said, “especially the great schools, low crime, and friendly people!”

On Friday, July 20, Kim Powers filed qualification papers to run for one of the two At-Large seats on the Central City Council in the Nov. 6 election. She’s the only woman in the race. “Vote for One Woman At-Large,” her campaign literature says.

“Some people say it’s silly to say vote for a woman, but I’ll tell you why it’s important. Many of the principles that are essential to being a good mother and running a successful household are the very same principles that are necessary to make government work. I plan to talk a lot about those principles during the campaign because they apply in Central!”

Powers describes herself as a strong conservative who is pro-life and pro-gun. “Yes, I’m probably packing!” she smiled. She believes in balanced budgets and is opposed to higher taxes in Central.

A registered Republican, Powers supported Donald Trump for President, attended Trump rallies, and hosted election parties for him.
Powers’ No. 1 issue is drainage. “The water rose two feet in our yard but fortunately the house is elevated! Our only actual loss was the contents of our shed but it was filled with family heirlooms, personal mementos, photos, and records. Those will never be replaced. In Central, our most important issue is drainage, and that’s where I will focus a great deal of time and attention. No. 2 for me will be beautification of Central. The men don’t seem too interested in that, and I want to get the women of Central involved in turning eyesores into garden spots! You will see the difference!”

But can Kim Powers make the transition from journalism to politics? Powers laughed, “My dad was mayor of Slidell and served as Councilman at Large for 24 years! He was a great servant for the people and my role model! I’ve always been around politics! There’s no transition to make for me!”