Newspaper hires convergence editor for 24-hour news
In an effort to bring news to its readers as quickly as possible, the Herald-Standard is upgrading its Web site www.heraldstandard.com. To help coordinate the move, the Herald-Standard has hired Holly Hildreth of Uniontown as its new convergence editor.
In this position, Hildreth is responsible for coordinating content between the newspaper, HSTV and the Web site www.heraldstandard.com.
“I am responsible for getting breaking news stories onto the Web as fast as possible. Now, instead of waiting until the next morning for local news, our readers can visit our Web site and get up-to-date information on breaking stories,’ said Hildreth.
“We’re developing a 24-hour news cycle and it will allow us to compete with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh television stations.’
A native of Sycamore, Greene County, Hildreth is a 2002 graduate of West Greene High School. She earned a bachelor of arts degree in journalism from Penn State University in 2005 and a master of science in journalism in December from West Virginia University.
Hildreth worked as a reporter for the Daily Collegian, Penn State University’s student newspaper, as well as in public relations for the Urologic Research Institute of Wheeling, W.Va., and the West Virginia Extension Service.
With this hiring, the Herald-Standard joins other newspapers in the Calkins Media chain in establishing the position of a convergence editor.
On being the Herald-Standard’s first convergence editor, Hildreth said, “There are so many opportunities for me. I can take this position in any direction. It’s exciting because this is a new position throughout Calkins – not just the Herald-Standard.’
Herald-Standard Publisher Val Laub said, “We are extremely pleased that we were able to attract a person with Holly’s education and knowledge in both print and digital media journalism. I am confident Holly will help converge our news department to a 24/7 news production operation for heraldstandard.com in the near future.
“This is an exciting technical year at the Herald-Standard. We are in the process of upgrading our entire digital media product and introducing many new interactive services for our viewers and advertisers in 2007.
“I am proud of the Herald-Standard news team with how much they understood the importance and embraced Web publishing from the beginning.
“I’m convinced digital media is imperative for our continued success in providing news, information and services for our customers. Holly has a huge responsibility in moving this process along. She fills one of the most important roles in our news operation today.’
Mark O’Keefe, executive editor of the Herald-Standard, said he thinks Hildreth will be a tremendous asset to the newspaper’s Web site.
“We’ve needed someone for a long time to coordinate and update our Web site,’ said O’Keefe.
“I’m sure that Holly will do a great job for us. She’s already added a section for breaking news on our Web site, and she’s had one slide show on our site. We hope to do a lot more with things like videos and blogs to make our Web site a place that people will turn to anytime they want to find out what’s going on in our area.
“With our newroom, our Web site and HSTV all working together, we’ll have the best of all possible worlds and, in turn, the people in our area will benefit from these partnerships. They’ll have access to any kind of media they want. They’ll be able to get what they want when they want it,’ O’Keefe added.