Four generations of family leadership continues under the Cooke family with Ken Esten Cooke and his wife Christine Granados taking over as co-publishers of the Rockdale Reporter.
“I am thrilled at the opportunity to keep the newspaper in the family as it has been family owned and operated for 107 years,” Cooke said.  
Cooke also publishes the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post. Granados is editor of Rock & Vine magazine, also published in Fredericksburg, and continues to teach writing courses at the University of Texas - San Antonio. 

The Texas Press Association named state Sen. Robert Nichols, R-Jacksonville, a 2017-18 “Champion of Transparency” in ceremonies at Nichols’ office attended by TPA officials and publishers of newspapers in Nichols’ district.
Nichols is credited with standing up for Texas laws regarding open meetings and public records and the right of citizens and journalists to have access to meetings and records.

Obituaries published in the August 2018 edition of the Texas Press Messenger.

CENTER – Veteran East Texas journalist Mike Elswick has been named editor and publisher of The Light and Champion, bringing with him his wife Stephanie as advertising manager. 
Elswick, a graduate of Aransas Pass High School, has worked for newspapers in Texas, Wyoming, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
Mike Elswick worked for the jointly owned Longview News-Journal and Marshall News Messenger for nearly 30 years between 1983 and 2013. 
He served as editor and publisher for the Terrell Tribune from 2013 through 2016. 

Staff changes at Texas newspapers.

2018 Golden 50 Award honoree
announced June 22, 2018 at the final TPA Leadership Retreat held at the LaTorretta Convention Center and Resort in Montgomer

Carla has been selling advertising for many years. She has researched and tried a variety of techniques to answer objections. “Just about everybody knows the Feel-Felt-Found formula,” she said. “When a prospect makes an objection – about price, for example – the response is, ‘I understand how you feel. Many others have felt the same way. Then they found that our paper offers good value for their investment.’ 

By John Foust, Raleigh, NC

Laurie Ezzell Brown, editor and publisher of The Canadian Record, was inducted as the 141st president of the Texas Press Association during the closing ceremony of the summer leadership retreat, held at La Torretta Lake Resort in Montgomery. 
As she received the gavel passed to her by past presidents in TPA’s annual tradition, Brown paid tribute to her predecessors. “I am mindful today of the high standards you have set, and grateful for your leadership and wise counsel,” she said.

TPA President Laurie Ezzell Brown and other officers installed at the summer leadership retreat will serve 18-month terms during the organization’s transition to a single meeting each year.
Other TPA leaders taking office with Brown are First Vice President Ramona Ferguson, Columbus, The Banner Press; Second Vice President Jim Bardwell, Gladewater Mirror; Treasurer Leonard Woolsey, Galveston County Daily News and TPA Executive Director Mike Hodges. Directors beginning new three-year terms are Sue Brown, Pleasanton Express, and Bill Patterson, Denton Record-Chronicle.

Promotions, staff additions at Texas newspapers.