Newsmakers

Promotions, staff additions and other changes reported at Texas newspapers.

DON MUNSCH
Azle News
AZLE – Don Munsch joined Hyde Media Group in early November as the new editor of the Azle News and The Springtown Epigraph.
Munsch began his career at The Denison Herald in 1994 and was at the paper when it merged with the Sherman Democrat in 1996 to become the Herald Democrat. He has worked for newspapers all over Texas – from Amarillo to Odessa to the Houston area to Central Texas, in addition to a few in North Texas.
He has covered many beats during his career, from cities and schools to police and fire to features, religion, entertainment and sports.
An Arlington native and a Northwest Missouri State University graduate, Munsch recently worked for C&S Media, based in Wylie, where he was news editor and covered the cities of Murphy and Wylie and the Wylie ISD.
Before his stint there, he was editor of The Elk City News in Elk City, Okla., which has been his only non-Texas newspaper experience.

KYLE MOOTY
Lockhart Post-Register
LOCKHART – Kyle Mooty, winner of 96 awards from various state press associations, has been named editor of the Lockhart Post-Register.
Mooty has 41 years of journalism experience at newspapers, magazines and radio. In addition to press association awards, he was once nominated for a Pulitzer Prize, and he has published two books.
He came to Lockhart after serving most recently as the administrative assistant to the president at Northwest Technical Institute in Arkansas.
Born in Alabama, Mooty has lived in six states and worked in 10. He attended the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he began his career as a sportswriter and later become sports editor of the Northwest Arkansas Times. He worked in sports in several states, including writing for a Southwest Conference weekly magazine in Plano in the late 1980s.
He began working as a newspaper editor and general manager after leaving the sports department and since 1998 has worked for newspapers in many states, including two simultaneously in Southeast Alabama. He also worked for a publicist in Beverly Hills, California, and wrote for an industry headquartered in New York City.
His books include Writin’ My Wrongs, a collection of short stories, and “New Set of Downs,” about the life of Alabama football star Johnny Dyess, who later in life suffered drug addiction but overcame that addiction to become a leader and contributor to his hometown community. 
“I always loved my trips to Texas, whether it was for work or visiting family and friends,” Mooty said. “After reading up on Lockhart, visiting the town and meeting Post-Register owners Dana and Terri Garrett, I’m sold that this is where I want to be. I cannot wait to dive in and see the people, places and things that make this place what it is.”

COY SLAVIK
Coastal Bend Publishing
GOLIAD – Coy Slavik has joined Coastal Bend Publishing as editor of the Goliad Advance-Guard and Refugio County Press.
Slavik’s 34-year career includes a former stint as editor of the Advance-Guard from 2012 to 2016.
“I greatly look forward to working with Coy again in his role as our editor in the Goliad and Refugio communities,” said Coastal Bend Publishing Content Director Kevin J. Keller. “Coy is an outstanding editor and an even better man. He embodies the ideals we are looking for in our editorial staff.”
Slavik began his career 41 years ago when he took a part-time sports position with the Victoria Advocate, helping answer phones and take stats for football season coverage.
He was promoted to full-time sportswriter at the Advocate in 1986 while also attending Victoria College and the University of Houston, Victoria. In 1998, Slavik was elevated to sports editor, a position he held at the Advocate until 2008. Slavik’s duties at the Advocate varied from covering the National Football League to Little League baseball. He won regional and statewide awards for column writing, feature writing and page design.
Slavik later served in editor roles at the New Braunfels Herald-Zeitung, Cuero Record, Yorktown News-View, and Goliad Advance-Guard. The Herald-Zeitung was named the Texas Newspaper of the Year in 2010 with Slavik as its assistant managing editor. During his first tenure with the Advance-Guard, the newspaper won awards from the Texas Press Association and South Texas Press Association, and Slavik was named the South Texas Press Association’s Journalist of the Year for 2014 and 2015.
“Community newspapers are vital to the communities they serve and inform,” Slavik said. “I want the residents of Goliad and Refugio counties to take pride in their local newspapers and become stakeholders in the Goliad Advance-Guard and Refugio County Press.”

LACHELLE COBB
Big Spring Herald
BIG SPRING – Lachelle Cobb has joined the newsroom at the Big Spring Herald as a reporter.
A native of Fort Worth, she attended Tarrant County College.
She moved with her family, including two sons, to Big Spring in 2015. Her work experience covers a wide range of businesses, including retail, health care, hospitality and restaurant.