Northport Gazette Welcomes Rachel Seale As New Reporter; Bids Fond Farewell To Hayden Renfroe

NORTHPORT, AL — Our friends at Northport's weekly newspaper now have a new face on the beat after saying goodbye to a beloved reporter who is pursuing a new career.

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Northport native and Tuscaloosa County High alumna Rachel Seale has already produced numerous bylines after taking the reporting reins from Hayden Renfroe, who recently left the Northport Gazette after covering his hometown since August 2022.

Renfroe now works as a football coach and English teacher at Hale County High School.

“I will forever cherish the time I had at the Gazette," he told Patch. "I met so many wonderful people and was able to tell so many stories. It is an honor to have served as the writer there for as long as I did. I give thanks to Paula Bryant who gave me a shot, and it turned into an experience I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.”

Northport Gazette publisher Paula Bryant has been with the paper for nearly three decades and said she has seen a lot of faces come and go.

"Sometimes there is that one though that hurts deep when they leave and for me that was Hayden Renfroe," Bryant told Patch. "From his first day on the job I knew I had hit the jackpot. He was such a caring, reliable, and the best employee ever. He wasn’t just an employee he was my friend that turned into more like a family member.

"Hayden was an exceptional employee but he also became my confidant and I could talk to him and he actually cared about what was happening in my personal life," she added. "He is just that one of a kind person that comes along and all of our lives were made better because of him and the light of kindness that he brought."

Bryant said the news of Renfroe leaving was hard to take as she worried about finding someone to replace such a valuable employee.

"But once again I spun the wheel and landed on a lucky one, Rachel Seale," Bryant said. "She has hit the ground running. Eager to learn and much more eager to tell the stories of the community in which she grew up in. The Northport Gazette is proud to have Rachel come aboard and I am pretty sure we will be just fine. She will pick up where Hayden left off and make all of Northport proud to have one of their very own taking the lead."

Seale graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor of Arts in news media with an English minor in May 2024 and went on to earn her Master of Arts in community journalism from UA in August 2025.

She told Patch that she began her journalism career as a contributing writer at The Crimson White during her junior year of undergrad after a professor told her she needed to be writing for the student newspaper.

"I found my love of print journalism and newspapers here as a contributor writing for the news and culture desks," she said. "I quickly worked my way up to staff writer for the news desk my senior year. I stayed on as a contributing writer during graduate school. Reporting for The Crimson White allowed me to write in-depth stories and get to know sources on a more personal level."

Seale explained how print journalism allows one to have deep conversations with people to better tell their stories as opposed to a 30-second segment on TV news, pointing out that she also worked as a digital reporter writing web stories for the digital desk at WVUA 23 News during graduate school.

"I also filmed and produced multiple broadcast TV packages that aired on WVUA," she said. "I also worked as a student intern for the broadcast news desk at WVUA, as well as a radio intern at Alabama Public Radio this past summer. I’ve also been freelance writing for The Alabama Baptist since August 2025."

When asked about why she chose to pursue a career in print journalism, Seale reflected back on her sophomore year when she couldn't decide between studying biology and civil engineering.

As fate would have it, it was the numerous math and science classes on the horizon that made Seale rethink her career prospects.

"Even though I love math, English and writing comes naturally to me, so they are my first love," she said. "I didn’t think I could really make a living writing, but when I switched to journalism, I realized it was possible. My dream is to write books, but I have developed a love for telling other people’s stories and being a voice for the voiceless. I have a passion for the written word and a heart for people. I would like to think of myself as a born storyteller, so I think it’s important to use my gifts to serve others. This is what motivates me to become a better journalist."

Seale has stacked up a number of notable bylines in her young career and said choosing one story in particularly to consider a favorite would be "like admitting which child is your favorite."

"You secretly do have an answer, but you can never admit it," she said. "I do have several stories that I am particularly proud of, though. I covered food insecurity on campus and the struggles many students face when it comes to being sure they’ll have food on the table each day. I initially didn’t think this story could do much to help these students; however, I had someone reach out to me after publication and say my story inspired their friend to start a food pantry at a local church to help combat food insecurity. That really motivated me as a journalist and helped me believe that change is possible."

She also mentioned a story about sexual assault and campus date rape safety that stood out as particularly formative in the early days of her journalism career.

"This was one of the first stories I wrote with anonymous sources since these sources experienced being drugged and/or date raped," Seale said. "I am beyond honored that complete strangers would trust me enough to let me share their stories and create awareness around a true life or death situation that remains prevalent on many college campuses today. The stories people allow me to share with others matter and shedding light on them really does make the world a better place."

Apart from covering topics relating to campus life, she has also earned valuable experience covering politics, including the 2023 Republican Presidential Primary Debate at Moody Music Building.

She recalled the excitement of writing her story on her takeaways from the debate in the Office of Student Media immediately after the event ended, staying up all night and getting her story out before CNN published its version.

"With less than four hours of sleep, I headed downtown to cover the candidates the next morning as they appeared on 'Breakfast with Friends' on Fox News," she said. "I was able to interview Vivek Ramaswamy and Gov. Ron DeSantis. This overall experience is probably one of the first times I can remember feeling like a true journalist."

Seale then looked ahead to how she will approach the job and carry on the legacy of Northport's newspaper of record.

"I want to leave the paper better off than when I found it," she said. "I think it’s important to have a mix of hard-hitting news, arts and entertainment, community interest and sports stories each week the paper hits your doorstep. I will strive to keep readers in the know and act with the same ethics and integrity that I would expect any reporter to exhibit. As a reporter and a local, I want to be plugged in with my community and get to know people on a level that goes beyond the surface. I really want to get to know my community and present an accurate picture of the people of Northport and what makes Northport such a special place to call home."

Those with story ideas for Seale are asked to email northportgazette@northportgazette.com.

Readers can also keep up with Seale's coverage on Instagram at @the_rachel_report or on X @Rachel_Reports.

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