(Writer's Note: Brandon Bowers initially hesitated when I proposed writing about him because he believes the stories matter, not the writers or editors. I argued that after 10 years as editor, his readers would want to know a little about the man behind the curtain. After some persuasion, he finally agreed.)
Meet the Today's News-Herald newsroom
Brandon Bowers, the regional editor of River City Newspapers, has been the editor of Today's News-Herald for the last 10 years. No one has been an editor longer in Lake Havasu City.
He's made good use of that time. Under his leadership, TNH has received 72 awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association, including the First Place General Excellence Award in 2021.
Bowers was named one of the top 25 editors under the age of 35 by Editors & Publisher Magazine in 2015.
He spearheaded initiatives to enhance the newspaper's online presence, resulting in a sevenfold increase in monthly page views.
The regional editor believes in building success stories and takes pride in developing the careers of his team and delights in their growth and achievements.
Some of those success stories include Marcel Louis-Jacques, now at ESPN; Chelsea Curtis, who is with Arizona Luminaria; and Daisy Nelson and Michael Zogg, his editors in Bullhead City and Kingman, respectively.
Chelsea Curtis said, “Brandon took a chance on me almost 10 years ago by giving me my first job as a reporter. I had recently graduated from (Northern Arizona University), moved back home and applied to every journalism job I could find, but with no luck for several months. I remember crying my eyes out – relieved and full of gratitude – after his phone call offering me the job.”
Curtis said Bowers provided opportunities to develop her journalistic skills. His guidance and mentorship helped her grow professionally and instilled a deep appreciation for local news.
“I remember we'd often talk about wanting to improve the News-Herald and Parker Pioneer's coverage of Indigenous communities in the area,” she said. “Brandon would encourage me to seek out those important stories and lean into my own knowledge as an Indigenous woman. I couldn't be more grateful to have had an editor at such an early stage in my career appreciate my cultural identity.”
His encouragement to seek out stories related to her cultural identity has led her to work with the non-profit news organization Arizona Luminaria. Curtis, who is a member of the Navajo Nation, is developing from scratch a database of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Former designer, copy editor and Parker Pioneer Editor William Wilczewski said, “Brandon is a great guy to work for. He never asks you to do anything he wouldn’t do himself.”
Wilczewski is currently a designer for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, the Denver Post and other Colorado-based newspapers.
Jackie Leatherman worked for TNH from 2009 to 2012. She said Brandon has a “gut for news" and can sense when a story needs to be told.
“He loves to go where no one wants him to go, which is the foundation of a solid editor,” she said. “He masters the balance of having a critical perspective to ask difficult questions with a pleasant demeanor.”
Leatherman is now the director of sales for Go Lake Havasu.
Not all of Brandon’s “success stories” have moved on to greener pastures. Brandon Messick is a notable exception. There probably isn’t a reporter who has written more stories for TNH than Messick. He's also in his 10th year with TNH and has no intention of moving on.
“Havasu can be an expensive place to live on a reporter's salary,” Messick said. “But I like it here. I enjoy my job, and I've spent almost a decade becoming familiar with this community and its people. It'd seem like a wasted effort to just move on after all these years unless I had a good reason.”
Messick added, “As a boss Brandon respects hard work, compassion and on occasion, a good pun or play on words. His expectations are firm but fair, and his management has made me a better journalist.”
Bowers is neither a Republican nora Democrat, yet he’s frequently accused of being both. The 44-year-old enjoys collecting letters from readers who complain about him being a commie liberal and from others who call him a right-wing radical.
“Politically, I’m pretty middle of the road,” he said. “But after 25 plus years reporting on local governments, I generally believe that less government involvement is usually the better option.”
One of his pet peeves is avoiding typos.
“Typos drive me crazy,” he said. “We move fast in this business, compiling tens of thousands of words into a readable package and getting it to the pressroom by 9 p.m. each night.”
Bowers continued, “We work hard to avoid errors, but they’re inevitable. We hate them and feel terrible when they happen. There’s a saying in this business: ‘You’re only as good as your last edition.’ We resolve to put out a better paper the next day and move on.”
According to the editor, many other communities across the nation are losing their local newspaper coverage because they’re owned by hedge funds that seem only motivated by profit.
That’s not the case in Havasu. River City Newspapers is a unique company in that it’s an LLC owned by two entities. One is Wick Communications, based in Sierra Vista, and the other is Western News & Information, based in Prescott.
Bowers has worked for much bigger newspaper companies but thinks RCN's ownership structure is a refreshing change. "Operational decisions are made locally by people who live in those communities—it’s an important dynamic.”
He said smaller papers like TNH employ people who live in the same neighborhoods and are impacted by the same issues that affect their readers. Instead of getting marching orders from a faraway corporate entity, coverage and editorial decisions are made locally by people who live in the community they serve.
The California native said that in Mohave County, his newspapers are working together to produce stronger news and more of it. He noted that while his newsroom staff comes from a variety of backgrounds and political beliefs, readers won’t see personal politics creep into their news coverage.
“Our only bias should be that we favor local perspectives over non-local ones,” he said. “Government transparency and freedom of information are also high on my list of political ideals. I push my reporters to go beyond the press release and ask the deeper questions.”
Bowers admits that this penetrating approach to news gathering may sometimes appear critical, but he thinks that's part of "doing our jobs."
Moving to Lake Havasu City in 2014 was an adventure for Brandon and his family.
“I felt fairly informed about the community by the time we moved here,” he said. “Still, nothing prepares you for that first summer, and our first year in Havasu was a scorcher with a really memorable monsoon.”
Brandon's wife, Amanda, had just given birth to their son, Noah. Their daughters, Aimee and Sophiamarie, were seven and two-years-old, respectively. Storms knocked out the power for a couple of days, and when the power went out, so did the air conditioning.
Retired Publisher Mike Quinn, who hired Bowers, said his editor was a good guy with sound judgment who listens to others' opinions and evaluates their validity.
“His job requires him to look over the horizon and condense the information for his readership,” Quinn said. “His job is not just working on one big thing. His work is the product of 10,000 little things each day.”
Since taking over as the editor, Bowers said some of the biggest changes happened in 2022 when River City Newspapers purchased five other publications, making him and his team think more regionally in their approach to news coverage.
“The challenge for us is not to lose our local appeal, and I think we get it right more often than we don't,” he said. “Like a lot of industries, Covid was a big turning point for us. That's when we stopped printing seven days a week, shifting Saturday and Monday coverage to online e-editions. It’s an edition that looks just like the print edition, but it’s online.”
At the time changing Saturday and Monday from print to online editions was a reaction to an uncertain and rapidly changing economic environment. However, the change became permanent as TNH realized that the financial side of resuming print for those two editions wouldn't “pencil out.”
“We have a long-term plan that addresses deeper and better news coverage,” Bowers said. “A lot of this is inside baseball, but we talk about beats or areas of coverage responsibility for each reporter. I’d like to shift away from traditional beats where it makes sense and focus more on the areas that matter to our readers. For instance we've talked about developing boating coverage into its own specialty beat.
Looking to the future of the newspaper business, Bowers said newspapers will have to stay relevant by going deeper on news topics and contain more news that's worth paying for—that is, not simply running news releases that everyone and their mom will share on Facebook before the paper is even printed.
He believes newspapers will survive for some time, but not in the way that we think of them.
“Ultimately, more and more will get pushed online and the frequency of print editions will decrease,” Bowers said. “We'll see more robust print editions delivered less often. The emphasis for print will be on local and regional news.”
Bowers has been in the newspaper business for most of his life. His career has spanned nearly 30 years.
Originally from the Bay Area, he grew up in California's Central Valley. When the family moved to Manteca in 1985, the city had a population of about 25,000. Mostly an agricultural community, the people in Manteca were diverse, exposing young Brandon to many different cultures and a great variety of food.
His dad worked at Lockheed Martin and commuted 75 miles to Sunnyvale, a San Jose suburb. Brandon’s mother stayed home for most of his childhood to care for him and his three younger brothers.
There were some early indicators that their oldest son would end up in the newspaper business. He read the paper daily—not just the cartoon strips—the whole paper. By the time he was 13, he was delivering the daily newspaper and a twice-weekly shopper to about 40 homes on his bicycle before school.
Although he was on the school newspaper staff in junior high, it was in 11th grade that Brandon began to consider a career as a newspaperman. That turning point happened when his school’s career training workshop assigned him to work as a clerk at the Manteca Bulletin for the year.
“I loved the energy in the newsroom. I was responsible for typesetting press releases and other submitted materials,” he explained. “It was the early days of the internet when the news wasn't yet readily available online, so I really loved having access to The Associated Press news feeds to find out what was going on before anyone else.
“I got hooked on breaking news and getting information before anyone else, then sharing what I knew with my community. It was fascinating seeing the news covered in real time, then seeing how it played out on TV, or in the newspaper the next day.”
The following year, he enrolled in the Journalism program at San Joaquin Delta College, a large community college.
“It had a great journalism program at the time,” he said. “The program was led by Bill Davis, a real reporter's reporter who had been a longtime journalist for a newspaper in Moab, Utah.”
Bowers finished the journalism track while working full-time as a reporter for the Manteca Bulletin. Bowers even made time to become the news editor of The Impact, the school’s on-campus student newspaper.
After completing his studies at the junior college, Brandon didn't transfer to a university as he originally intended. He didn’t see the value in continuing his formal education because he had already worked for several years in the career he wanted to pursue—learning on the job and getting paid for it.
“Now I wish I would have transferred and finished my degree,” Bowers said, “if only for having that life experience, but things worked out OK for me.”
Ed Fichtner, a retired school board member with Manteca Unified School District, has fond memories of his former student when he was a reporter in Manteca.
“Brandon was always on the ball—always willing to help. When things happened with the school board or the Future Farmers of America, you’d go to him and he’d jump on it. He’s an extremely likable person. You can add a plus, plus, plus to that.”
Many vital people influenced Brandon along the way.
A high school English teacher named Mrs. Carr singled out his writing as being caustic.
“She meant it as a compliment and encouraged me to develop my writing voice,” he said. “That was one of the first times I thought about writing as a career.”
Another early mentor was Bob Crawford, a retired editor from the Turlock Journal.
“When I got the managing editor job for the Turlock Journal at the age of 23 – his old position from years before – I think he took pity on me as a young, inexperienced editor. He would drop by my office a couple times each week to review our latest editions. He taught me some skills that I still use to this day.”
David Stringer, Brandon’s publisher in Carlsbad, New Mexico, taught him to find a way to say yes.
“Too often we want to tell people no, that we don't have time for them, or that their request doesn't fit with our current project,” Bowers said. “But there’s an opportunity for a negotiation that keeps everybody happy.
“David also reminded me, somewhat to my annoyance, that when we say we don't have time to do something, it's generally because we refuse to make the time to do it. It's a matter of priorities. If it's truly important, we'll find something to stop doing to make room.”
Bowers admits balancing his newspaper career with his family hasn’t always been easy.
“I have a job that has the potential to keep me very busy, and early in my career, I allowed it to dictate my schedule and my life at the expense of personal and family time.
“Some very real conversations with my wife made me rethink my approach to the job – I still work long hours, but thankfully I'm able to be more flexible with my time and I prioritize family time by digging in during normal working hours.”
He delegates much more work than he used to, but readers would probably be surprised to learn that he still writes more copy and designs more news pages than anyone else.
“Weekends and evenings are generally my time with family, but my wife and kids have been around newspapers for the last two decades. They understand that a breaking news story can demand my attention during odd times, and something like an election will keep me occupied for a night.”
Amanda, his wife of 21 years, says her husband is “pretty good” with all the housework: “He helps take care of the kids and does laundry and dishes.”
Bowers said Havasu is a land of contradictions. There are spring breakers and snowbirds, conservative values in a party atmosphere and abundant water in one of the hottest and driest climates. He views the city as a red oasis on the edge of one of the bluest states in the country.
"All these cultural intersections make Havasu a very interesting place to produce a newspaper and a great place to raise a family," he said. “There's a big enough population and enough to do that you'll never get bored, but it's small enough that you can feel safe. And after you've been here a few years, you'll feel like you know everybody."
One of Brandon's biggest challenges is maintaining the proper staffing levels, which has become more challenging in the last couple of years.
“Reporting is a skilled trade that doesn’t pay well,” Bowers observed. “It can be hard to convince people to move to a rural community under those terms, especially with the rising cost of living.”
Another challenge he faces daily is getting the newspaper out the door. Monsoon storms make Bowers nervous because putting out a daily newspaper requires electricity and reliable internet service. Yet, he’s proud of the fact that his team has never failed to deliver an edition.
"Somehow, we've always figured it out," he said. “But I have a lot more gray hair than I did 10 years ago.”
Originally from St. George, Utah, Madeline Armstrong, 22, has been the Assistant Editor for the Today’s News-Herald for the last 11 months.
Armstrong graduated with her MA from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY and decided to join this industry because of her passion for making sure everyone is informed
“I decided to get into this industry because I am passionate about making sure that everyone is informed before making any decisions that may cross their paths. I feel it is my responsibility to shine light on injustices in the community and provide an outlet for any voice that needs to be heard.”
One thing she loves is advocating for people and encourages anyone to reach out to her with a story to share.
“I am an incredibly curious person and love advocating for people. I am very dedicated to my role as a journalist and encourage anyone with a story to share to reach out to me at marmstrong@havasunews.com.”
In these 11 months, Armstrong has learned how important it is to be immersed within the community when out in the field reporting.
“I have learned how important it is to be immersed within the community when reporting. Lake Havasu City is a wonderful place to live and I feel honored to have the opportunity to report on the things that are important to the people who live here. I have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful and influential people in this town and appreciate the cooperation of the community in telling the important stories and ensuring that every tax-payer in Lake Havasu City is informed when making decisions and contributions that are important to our society.”
John Gutekunst, 63, has been with the News-Herald and Parker Pioneer for the last 25 years and currently serves as a reporter, news editor and sports writer for the Pioneer.
He was born in Waterloo, Iowa, and grew up in the Midwest, mostly in the Detroit area and southeastern Ohio. Gutekunst attended Ohio University in Lancaster and Athens, Ohio, earning my BA in 1982.
The reason he got into journalism was his love for keeping up with current events, calling himself a “news and politics addict.”
In his 25 year career, Gutekunst has managed to pick up a few life lessons. “I learned two very important lessons. The first is to always get all sides of a story. You may find something sounds very different when told by different people. The second lesson is never attribute to malice or crookedness that which could also be attributed to incompetence.”
Bryanna Winner, 27, joined Today’s News-Herald as Regional Sports Editor in January 2023. Through her role, she has had the opportunity to get to know the Lake Havasu City community and those students involved in sports.
“What I enjoy most is being able to make connections with the families, coaches and athletes at these games,” Winner said, “immersing myself into the community and helping to make memories whether it is through their names in the paper or taking action photos that they can save for scrapbooks.”
Winner is originally from the San Fernando Valley in California. She graduated with an MA in Mass Communication: Journalism from California State University Northridge and a BA in Communication: Media Studies from the University of Colorado.
Winner has always known that she wanted to go into a field involving sports.
“ I grew up watching sports since I was two weeks old and was playing different ones beginning at the age of four,” Winner said. “ At the end of my junior year of college at UCCS, I joined the newspaper and learned that I was good at journalistic writing and enjoyed writing about sports.”
Winner said that her favorite part of being regional sports editor is photographing sports as well as giving athletes recognition for their hard work.
Jacob Lewis, 21, is originally from Scarborough, Maine, and graduated with BA in Film from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. Lewis has been an Editorial Assistant for the past four months and in addition to the role, is also a photographer.
“In addition to my role as an editorial assistant at Today’s News-Herald, I also work as a photographer for the paper. I enjoy photographing important moments in the community and visually highlighting people, events and emotions that are prevalent to Lake Havasu City.”
Videography and photography are just a few ways to share people’s stories and that is something he is passionate about. Through his position, Lewis is able to directly communicate with the community, highlighting important events.
“I am passionate about sharing people’s stories through photography and videography. I wanted to get involved with newspapers and was able to do so through my editorial assistant position. Through this position, I am able to communicate with the community directly and enjoy the opportunity to highlight important events both through photography and ensuring that they are highlighted in the newspaper.”
Greg Moberly, 49, is the copy editor and page designer for the Today’s News-Herald making sure everything looks correct for the public to see.
He has been with the paper for the last 12 years after earning a degree from Iowa State.
“I was born and raised in Aurora, Illinois. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Iowa State University.”
In addition to copy editing and page designing, he is a massive baseball fan, rooting for his hometown Chicago Cubs.
Moberly has always had a curiosity in knowing and understanding what goes on in the community, driving him into the field of Journalism.
“I have always had a curiosity to know and understand what is going on in the community and the world at large. I believe it is greatly important to provide fair and unbiased information to readers to help them make the best decision for themselves.”
He has had multiple roles leading up to his current position with the News-Herald and being able to put interesting stories on a page whether as a copy editor or reporter has always been satisfying for him.
“I’ve covered many different interesting stories as a reporter beginning in 1997 including opportunities to interview presidential candidates — Bill Bradley, Steve Forbes, Dan Quayle — leading up to the Iowa caucus in 2000 when I was at The Messenger in Fort Dodge, Iowa. I was a part of The Times-Herald’s (Vallejo, California) coverage of the Sept. 11 terror attacks when people were in shock, sad, angry and confused at what had just happened. Election nights are always unique, whether I’ve been a reporter or served as a copy editor/page designer. There almost always is a sense of satisfaction once those election stories are put on the page with those important results for readers. These days I’m focused on putting together a good, relevant package of nation, world, state and region news on those specific pages for readers in the most presentable way possible.”
La’Erica Conner-Sims, 32, is a reporter and designer for the company’s quarterly lifestyle magazines. She joined the News-Herald staff in 2022 after a brief freelancing arrangement with the newspaper.
“While I write as a reporter for the daily editions, I also organize and design several of the Special Sections produced by our company. These include the quarterly lifestyle magazine “Havasu: Arizona’s Coastal Life” and the visitor guides. I appreciate writing and have dabbled in this activity since I was a young child.”
She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, but also moved around a few times, including Las Vegas and finally Delaware, where she attended Delaware State University to major in convergence journalism. Conner-Sims also minored in philosophy.
“When applying for my major, I hoped I could one day make a career out of writing since it’s not typically as lucrative of a profession. I am glad I continued on this path and found a way to begin my writing career. In my two years of working here, I have learned more about Lake Havasu City’s community and the people that make Havasu what it is. I take pleasure in featuring many local veterans and highlighting the positive changes made in our city.”
Conner-Sims got her love of writing from her mother and started with small books before moving to poetry and journalism.
“My mother, Linda, was a writer before her death during my childhood. She inspired me to see what I could create with words and my imagination. I started with small “books” I would craft out of construction paper and crayons and moved on to writing poetry during my adolescent years. As a young adult, I became a mother to two and found my way back to writing through my job at the News-Herald. I originally wanted to pursue an occupation as a pediatrician or a family therapist but kept being drawn back to writing.”
Her favorite memories working at the News-Herald has been the many people she has gotten to meet.
“My favorite memory from Today’s News-Herald has to be the many nonprofit organizations and individuals I get to meet and know who support many facets of Lake Havasu City. From veterans-based groups to people aiding vulnerable demographics, I have grown to appreciate the diverse support available in our “big” small town.”
Taylor Schwartz-Olson, 22, has been with the paper for just under a year as a reporter and was born and raised in the state of Arizona.
She was born and raised in Arizona, living in Cave Creek, a suburb north of Phoenix until she started attending college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Having graduated a few months before starting her first professional reporting job, she’s grateful to be getting her start in Havasu.
“I am very fortunate to be able to start my career in Lake Havasu City, living in a new place but also being close to home. I’ve lived in several parts of Arizona, and every town is different from the next, and each region is unique. I look forward to gaining more experience in the field and telling Havasu’s story.”
Going into journalism was something that Schwartz-Olson decided in high school, realizing after that this was the path to take.
In school, I was never good at math or science, but I was good at language arts and history. In elementary school, I used to write fiction stories for my family to read, and always wanted to be an author. Then, freshman year of high school I decided Journalism might be a better choice, and chose that as my major when applying for college. In college, I worked at my school paper, which solidified my decision to become a journalist. My hope was and always will be to make a difference through telling important stories and keeping the public informed.
She hopes that she can show the positive effect that media can have in inspiring changes.
“Working within the community, I want to show the positive effect that the media can have in inspiring changes by telling stories, digging into important issues, and keeping the public informed. I understand the perception of the media is not always good, and rightfully so, but again, I hope to show how it can impact people and the community in a good way.”
Brandon Messick is a reporter who has been with the News-Herald for almost 10 years. Originally from California, he has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from University of Arizona.
“I moved every few years while I was growing up, from one community to another. When people talk about their hometown, or pride in their communities, it was a concept that I was never able to relate to. Today, I’ve lived in Lake Havasu City for longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, and now I understand what it’s like to have pride in where you live.”
Messick has an honest desire to keep the public informed, which is the reason for getting into this industry.
“Sometimes that means showing the community something positive, and sometimes that means shedding light on possible injustice, and I’m satisfied if I’ve done my job either way.”
One piece of advice he would give the newest generation of journalists is just to hit the streets and contact those involved.
“Shoeleather reporting is the best reporting. Hitting the street and contacting the people involved (if even indirectly) will always result in a better story than just-the-facts.”
Meet the Today's News-Herald newsroom
Originally from St. George, Utah, Madeline Armstrong, 22, has been the Assistant Editor for the Today’s News-Herald for the last 11 months.
Armstrong graduated with her MA from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY and decided to join this industry because of her passion for making sure everyone is informed
“I decided to get into this industry because I am passionate about making sure that everyone is informed before making any decisions that may cross their paths. I feel it is my responsibility to shine light on injustices in the community and provide an outlet for any voice that needs to be heard.”
One thing she loves is advocating for people and encourages anyone to reach out to her with a story to share.
“I am an incredibly curious person and love advocating for people. I am very dedicated to my role as a journalist and encourage anyone with a story to share to reach out to me at marmstrong@havasunews.com.”
In these 11 months, Armstrong has learned how important it is to be immersed within the community when out in the field reporting.
“I have learned how important it is to be immersed within the community when reporting. Lake Havasu City is a wonderful place to live and I feel honored to have the opportunity to report on the things that are important to the people who live here. I have had the opportunity to meet many wonderful and influential people in this town and appreciate the cooperation of the community in telling the important stories and ensuring that every tax-payer in Lake Havasu City is informed when making decisions and contributions that are important to our society.”
John Gutekunst, 63, has been with the News-Herald and Parker Pioneer for the last 25 years and currently serves as a reporter, news editor and sports writer for the Pioneer.
He was born in Waterloo, Iowa, and grew up in the Midwest, mostly in the Detroit area and southeastern Ohio. Gutekunst attended Ohio University in Lancaster and Athens, Ohio, earning my BA in 1982.
The reason he got into journalism was his love for keeping up with current events, calling himself a “news and politics addict.”
In his 25 year career, Gutekunst has managed to pick up a few life lessons. “I learned two very important lessons. The first is to always get all sides of a story. You may find something sounds very different when told by different people. The second lesson is never attribute to malice or crookedness that which could also be attributed to incompetence.”
Bryanna Winner, 27, joined Today’s News-Herald as Regional Sports Editor in January 2023. Through her role, she has had the opportunity to get to know the Lake Havasu City community and those students involved in sports.
“What I enjoy most is being able to make connections with the families, coaches and athletes at these games,” Winner said, “immersing myself into the community and helping to make memories whether it is through their names in the paper or taking action photos that they can save for scrapbooks.”
Winner is originally from the San Fernando Valley in California. She graduated with an MA in Mass Communication: Journalism from California State University Northridge and a BA in Communication: Media Studies from the University of Colorado.
Winner has always known that she wanted to go into a field involving sports.
“ I grew up watching sports since I was two weeks old and was playing different ones beginning at the age of four,” Winner said. “ At the end of my junior year of college at UCCS, I joined the newspaper and learned that I was good at journalistic writing and enjoyed writing about sports.”
Winner said that her favorite part of being regional sports editor is photographing sports as well as giving athletes recognition for their hard work.
Jacob Lewis, 21, is originally from Scarborough, Maine, and graduated with BA in Film from Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. Lewis has been an Editorial Assistant for the past four months and in addition to the role, is also a photographer.
“In addition to my role as an editorial assistant at Today’s News-Herald, I also work as a photographer for the paper. I enjoy photographing important moments in the community and visually highlighting people, events and emotions that are prevalent to Lake Havasu City.”
Videography and photography are just a few ways to share people’s stories and that is something he is passionate about. Through his position, Lewis is able to directly communicate with the community, highlighting important events.
“I am passionate about sharing people’s stories through photography and videography. I wanted to get involved with newspapers and was able to do so through my editorial assistant position. Through this position, I am able to communicate with the community directly and enjoy the opportunity to highlight important events both through photography and ensuring that they are highlighted in the newspaper.”
Greg Moberly, 49, is the copy editor and page designer for the Today’s News-Herald making sure everything looks correct for the public to see.
He has been with the paper for the last 12 years after earning a degree from Iowa State.
“I was born and raised in Aurora, Illinois. I have a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism from Iowa State University.”
In addition to copy editing and page designing, he is a massive baseball fan, rooting for his hometown Chicago Cubs.
Moberly has always had a curiosity in knowing and understanding what goes on in the community, driving him into the field of Journalism.
“I have always had a curiosity to know and understand what is going on in the community and the world at large. I believe it is greatly important to provide fair and unbiased information to readers to help them make the best decision for themselves.”
He has had multiple roles leading up to his current position with the News-Herald and being able to put interesting stories on a page whether as a copy editor or reporter has always been satisfying for him.
“I’ve covered many different interesting stories as a reporter beginning in 1997 including opportunities to interview presidential candidates — Bill Bradley, Steve Forbes, Dan Quayle — leading up to the Iowa caucus in 2000 when I was at The Messenger in Fort Dodge, Iowa. I was a part of The Times-Herald’s (Vallejo, California) coverage of the Sept. 11 terror attacks when people were in shock, sad, angry and confused at what had just happened. Election nights are always unique, whether I’ve been a reporter or served as a copy editor/page designer. There almost always is a sense of satisfaction once those election stories are put on the page with those important results for readers. These days I’m focused on putting together a good, relevant package of nation, world, state and region news on those specific pages for readers in the most presentable way possible.”
La’Erica Conner-Sims, 32, is a reporter and designer for the company’s quarterly lifestyle magazines. She joined the News-Herald staff in 2022 after a brief freelancing arrangement with the newspaper.
“While I write as a reporter for the daily editions, I also organize and design several of the Special Sections produced by our company. These include the quarterly lifestyle magazine “Havasu: Arizona’s Coastal Life” and the visitor guides. I appreciate writing and have dabbled in this activity since I was a young child.”
She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, but also moved around a few times, including Las Vegas and finally Delaware, where she attended Delaware State University to major in convergence journalism. Conner-Sims also minored in philosophy.
“When applying for my major, I hoped I could one day make a career out of writing since it’s not typically as lucrative of a profession. I am glad I continued on this path and found a way to begin my writing career. In my two years of working here, I have learned more about Lake Havasu City’s community and the people that make Havasu what it is. I take pleasure in featuring many local veterans and highlighting the positive changes made in our city.”
Conner-Sims got her love of writing from her mother and started with small books before moving to poetry and journalism.
“My mother, Linda, was a writer before her death during my childhood. She inspired me to see what I could create with words and my imagination. I started with small “books” I would craft out of construction paper and crayons and moved on to writing poetry during my adolescent years. As a young adult, I became a mother to two and found my way back to writing through my job at the News-Herald. I originally wanted to pursue an occupation as a pediatrician or a family therapist but kept being drawn back to writing.”
Her favorite memories working at the News-Herald has been the many people she has gotten to meet.
“My favorite memory from Today’s News-Herald has to be the many nonprofit organizations and individuals I get to meet and know who support many facets of Lake Havasu City. From veterans-based groups to people aiding vulnerable demographics, I have grown to appreciate the diverse support available in our “big” small town.”
Taylor Schwartz-Olson, 22, has been with the paper for just under a year as a reporter and was born and raised in the state of Arizona.
She was born and raised in Arizona, living in Cave Creek, a suburb north of Phoenix until she started attending college at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff. Having graduated a few months before starting her first professional reporting job, she’s grateful to be getting her start in Havasu.
“I am very fortunate to be able to start my career in Lake Havasu City, living in a new place but also being close to home. I’ve lived in several parts of Arizona, and every town is different from the next, and each region is unique. I look forward to gaining more experience in the field and telling Havasu’s story.”
Going into journalism was something that Schwartz-Olson decided in high school, realizing after that this was the path to take.
In school, I was never good at math or science, but I was good at language arts and history. In elementary school, I used to write fiction stories for my family to read, and always wanted to be an author. Then, freshman year of high school I decided Journalism might be a better choice, and chose that as my major when applying for college. In college, I worked at my school paper, which solidified my decision to become a journalist. My hope was and always will be to make a difference through telling important stories and keeping the public informed.
She hopes that she can show the positive effect that media can have in inspiring changes.
“Working within the community, I want to show the positive effect that the media can have in inspiring changes by telling stories, digging into important issues, and keeping the public informed. I understand the perception of the media is not always good, and rightfully so, but again, I hope to show how it can impact people and the community in a good way.”
Brandon Messick is a reporter who has been with the News-Herald for almost 10 years. Originally from California, he has a Bachelor’s degree in Journalism from University of Arizona.
“I moved every few years while I was growing up, from one community to another. When people talk about their hometown, or pride in their communities, it was a concept that I was never able to relate to. Today, I’ve lived in Lake Havasu City for longer than I’ve lived anywhere else, and now I understand what it’s like to have pride in where you live.”
Messick has an honest desire to keep the public informed, which is the reason for getting into this industry.
“Sometimes that means showing the community something positive, and sometimes that means shedding light on possible injustice, and I’m satisfied if I’ve done my job either way.”
One piece of advice he would give the newest generation of journalists is just to hit the streets and contact those involved.
“Shoeleather reporting is the best reporting. Hitting the street and contacting the people involved (if even indirectly) will always result in a better story than just-the-facts.”
