Newsmakers

Promotions, new hires and other employment news from Texas newspapers published in the August 2023 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

MIRANDA OGLESBY

Northeast Texas Publishing, LP

MOUNT PLEASANT – Miranda Oglesby has been named the general manager for the Mount Pleasant Tribune, The Pittsburg Gazette and The Daingerfield Steel Country Bee.

Oglesby joined the Mount Pleasant Tribune as a reporter and page designer in 2018. She became the paper’s managing editor in 2019.

“Miranda started her newspaper career here at the Tribune and we’ve watched her grow and expand her newspaper and management skill sets and experience at other papers over the last few years, too,” said Mark Henry, group manager for Northeast Texas Publishing, LP. “Having family, friends and contacts in the area will also help make her transition quicker and smoother.”

An award-winning journalist, Oglesby has had bylines in publications throughout Texas. Her background includes experience at the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram, the Longview News-Journal and, most recently, The Paris News.

SHANIA HORTON

The Cuero Record, Yorktown News-View

CUERO – Shania Horton has been promoted to advertising director for The Cuero Record and Yorktown News-View.

A Cuero native, she has been working in the advertising department for the newspapers since October 2022. In addition to print advertising, she handles the sale, scheduling and customer service for online, social media and digital advertising.

JEFF B. FLINN

The Boerne Star

BOERNE – Jeff B. Flinn, a veteran reporter and editor with nearly 40 years experience, is the new managing editor of the Boerne Star.

Flinn, formerly a managing editor and reporter with the Northeast Herald newspaper in San Antonio, assumed duties at the Star on July 13.

Thomas Edwards, executive editor for Granite Media Partners, announced the appointment. Edwards noted Flinn is “an incredibly talented journalist who can cover everything from local elections to sports.”

Flinn broke into the news business in 1984 as a reporter for the Carlsbad Current-Argus in New Mexico. After filling in for a brief period as news editor, he was named the Current-Argus managing editor in 1988.

As an education and investigative reporter, Flinn uncovered a fraud and embezzlement scandal in 1985 and 1986 that forced a New Mexico cabinet-level designee to resign, led to the breakup of a mental-health service organization and landed one of the mental-health facility’s administrators in prison.

Flinn moved to the San Antonio area in 1995, initially as a reporter with the now-defunct Northside Recorder under Prime Time Newspapers, Inc.

After a 16-month stint with a San Antonio-based consumer research firm, he returned to the newspaper industry in 2000 as managing editor of The Herald, later the Northeast Herald, under ownership of the San Antonio Express-News.

In addition to his managing editor duties, Flinn will also assume hosting and interviewing duties for “The Boerne Brew,” a weekly program produced in partnership with KBRN Radio.

AUDREY HENVEY

Star Local Media

FRISCO – Audrey Henvey has been promoted to news editor for all Star Local Media publications.

In her new role, Henvey continues to cover the news and events of Frisco and Celina markers while also overseeing the direction and intent of the company’s newest publication, Check Out Prosper.

Star Local Media Owners Rick and Elizabeth Rogers congratulated Henvey on her promotion, praising her “work ethic, wanting to accurately tell the stories of the communities we serve, her drive to report the news in a way that residents understand and appreciate, and her dedication to the craft.”

Henvey graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington in 2020 with bachelor’s degrees in French and journalism. During her college career, she wrote for multiple publications, including the campus newspaper, The Shorthorn, and was awarded multiple journalism scholarships.

Henvey’s first internship with Star Local Media was in the summer of 2017. She joined the company as a full-time reporter in 2020.

She was most recently named one of 25 under 35 news media professionals for the year of 2023 by Editor and Publisher.

Star Local Media newspapers cover the communities of Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, Celina, Allen, Little Elm, The Colony, Carrollton, Coppell, Lewisville and Mesquite. In addition to print publications reaching readers 142,000 times each week, the company’s website average more than 400,000 engaged users per month.

QUINTEN BOYD

Steel Country Bee

DAINGERFIELD - Quinten Boyd is the new editor of the Steel Country Bee.

In addition to editing duties, he will continue in his role as sports editor for the Bee, the Mount Pleasant Tribune and the Pittsburg Gazette.

Boyd is a native of Naples. He is a 2001 graduate of Paul Pewitt High School and a 2007 graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University.

Boyd has worked in journalism for 15 years. He previously served as general manager, editor, sports editor and radio broadcaster at The Cherokeean Herald/KWRW-FM and KTLU-AM for 10 years. He then worked at the Sulphur Springs News-Telegram. He has also had work published in approximately 30 newspapers across the state.

“My passion for community journalism stems from two of my journalistic mentors,” he said. “Morris Craig and The Monitor in Naples is one of the first newspapers to have published an article and a picture that I worked on while I was still in school. My publisher in Rusk, Marie Whitehead, taught me that a hometown newspaper should be a mirror to the community it serves.”

He succeeds Toni Walker, who has left to pursue other interests. Boyd noted that Walker had provided Daingerfield and Morris County with great coverage for nearly a decade. “I hope to continue this tradition and maintain the high standards she set,” he said.

BEN HUTCHENS

The Paris News

PARIS – Ben Hutchens has joined the sports staff of the Paris News.

A Denton native and lifelong sports enthusiast, Hutchens is a sports media graduate of Oklahoma State University. In addition to the OSU student newspaper, The Colly, Hutchens has worked with the Tulsa World, Stillwater News Press and the Guthrie News Leader covering college and high school sports.

While at OSU, Hutchens interviewed Cowboys football coach Mike Gundy, former NFL running back Barry Sanders and No. 1 overall MLB Draft pick Jackson Holliday. He also covered events such as the Fiesta Bowl, PGA Championship and Women’s College World Series.

“We are ready for Ben to hit the ground running on getting all sports covered ... and developing relationships with all the area coaches and players,” Publisher Clay Carsner said. Managing Editor David Money agreed and said he was ready to have someone of Hutchens’ caliber take the reins of the newspaper’s sports coverage.