Newsmakers

Promotions, new hires and other employment news reported by Texas newspapers and reported in the November 2024 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

JULIA CHILDS, ANNA GIBSON

The Post Dispatch

POST – Longtime Post Dispatch Editor Julia Childs has retired. Following in her footsteps as the new managing editor is Anna Gibson.

Gibson, who has returned after an earlier newswriting stint at the Dispatch, took the helm from Childs Sept.11 and immediately inherited another duty – planning for a temporary transition in office space as the historic Post Dispatch undergoes a significant facelift and long-needed interior improvements.

Childs may be the only editor to have served the Dispatch in three different stints during the newspaper’s 98-year history.

Childs has served her Garza County community since 2016 with a passion for following local news, especially county and city government.

A hometown native and Post High School graduate, Childs went to work at 15. Later, following a career with the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal that spanned 14 years in that award-winning newspaper’s marketing department, she turned her attentions to her hometown Post Dispatch in 2016 with Blackburn Media, who had purchased the newspaper from Wes Burnett in 2008.

Under different management with Hicks Media from 2021 to 2023, Childs instituted improvements in coverage of local government, including the Garza County Healthcare District.

In August 2023 the Paragraph Ranch media group, which owned three neighboring weeklies, acquired The Post Dispatch along with its sister weekly, The Knox County News-Courier. Childs stayed on to see the new owners through that transition.

Wishing Childs well in retirement, the new owners look forward to her part-time participation in soliciting special-project advertising.

Gibson, a native of central Iowa who relocated to Texas in 2009 and to Post with her family in 2011, previously served as office manager for The Dispatch in 2013. Gibson rejoined the newspaper staff in February of this year to boost coverage.

Helping out with coverage is contributing writer Russ Morris, a Post resident with a heart for high school sports.

PILAR LINARES

Port Arthur News, Orange Leader

PORT ARTHUR – Pilar (Pili ) Linares has stepped into the role of general manager for the Port Arthur News and the Orange Leader, succeeding former Publisher Stephen Hemelt.

Hemelt has accepted an opportunity in another field.

With extensive experience in the newspaper industry across Texas and Washington, Linares most recently served as the general manager of Sound Publishing’s Kitsap Group of newspapers.

She is fluent in Spanish and was previously the publisher of La Raza del Noroeste, Sound Publishing’s Spanish language paper.

Prior to the COVID pandemic, she was the regional advertising director for Sound Publishing’s newspapers on the Eastside and North King County, and she also held the position of advertising director at the Everett Daily Herald.

In addition to her work at Sound Publishing, Linares has served as general manager of the Texarkana Gazette, advertising manager for the Beaumont Enterprise and the Houston Chronicle, vice president of advertising for the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, and marketing director for the Newspaper Association of America.

A native of Chicago, she grew up in Houston and earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising from the University of Texas.

In her new position, Pili Oversees all aspects of the business while mentoring and supporting her staff.

TERESITA DOMINGUEZ

Port Aransas South Jetty

PORT ARANSAS – The South Jetty recently welcomed reporter Teresita Dominguez to the staff.

Dominguez graduated with a bachelor of arts in English from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in Brownsville. She said she realized her love for journalism while working as both a reporter and copy editor at her university newspaper, The Rider.

Dominguez has interned both as a reporter for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and as a copy writer for Kemper Insurance in McAllen.

She said she believes the most important part of journalism is to deliver the facts, straightforward and unbiased.

“Of course, Teresita has training in journalism, but we also are getting some real bonuses in that she is bilingual and grew up in Port Isabel, a town with similarities to Port Aransas,” Editor Dan Parker said.

“I think she is well-positioned to root out and tell local stories that inform and delight South Jetty readers.”

CELESTE DENOVA

Anahuac Progress

ANAHUAC – Celeste Denova has joined the Anahuac Progress as a general assignment reporter, covering events in both Chambers and Liberty counties.

A graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Denova comes from Brusly, Louisiana. She learned the Progress needed a new reporter from a friend who works at another Granite Media Partners newspaper.

“Our network of newspapers created a unique opportunity to identify Celeste,” said Area Editor Russell Payne. “I think we have found a thoughtful and thorough young reporter that will be a great asset to our team.”