I’ve officially been editor and publisher of The Covington News for a week. Who would have thought?
This week has been a whirlwind of emotions, challenges and exciting opportunities for growth for your favorite community newspaper and I am excited to be a part of it.
First, I would like to say: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
I have been stopped several times throughout the week by people all over the community wishing me well on my promotion. I appreciate it more than you will ever know.
While I have been with this newspaper for almost two years now, I know I haven’t even made a dent in meeting all of its readers. I thought, in my new leadership role, I would take this opportunity to tell you a little about myself and some of my goals for this newspaper moving forward.
I came to The Covington News on Oct. 24, 2016 after two years about an hour down the road with the Lake Oconee News, a weekly publication that covers Greene, Morgan and Putnam counties. In my time with the LON, I served as the Greene County reporter before being named the Associate Editor over Greene County content.
I found my love for journalism and all things newspaper in high school. Sure, I was most definitely one of those kids that ran to the end of the driveway for the Sunday comics each week, but I was never fully invested in the words on the page until I saw my name.
During my junior year, Heritage High School, in Conyers, decided to bring back the student newspaper on a trial run. I signed up for the journalism elective class in an effort to fill my schedule and had no idea that I was going to be part of the team that revived the newspaper after a 10-year hiatus. Talk about pressure. Well, long story short, we were able to impress the administration enough to keep the newspaper around and it is still publishing regularly to this day.
Since then, I have had a passion for printed newspapers and their websites and I believe community journalism remains the heartbeat of a town. No one else is going to tell the story of your life like we do, I can guarantee that.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll use this space to touch on some of the plans of the newspaper moving forward. I will also ask questions of you – make sure to have your pens ready – and looking for feedback on every corner. This is your community newspaper and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to come into your home each and every week.
Jackie Gutknecht is the editor and publisher of The Covington News. She can be reached at jgutknecht@covnews.com or 770-728-14009. Twitter: @jackieg1991
