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WARREN -- The Tribune Chronicle welcomed East Liverpool native Jim Mackey this month as a new metro editor.
He said he plans to use his leadership and the local news reporting staff to expand the newspaper's local scope.
"I think that with the great veteran staff we have at the Tribune Chronicle, we'll be able to write more in-depth about our coverage area and better tell the stories of Trumbull County people to our readers," Mackey said.
As metro editor, Mackey will directly oversee the local news reporting staff, making assignments and editing copy.
"Although I did see the job as an opportunity to grow personally as a journalist, I was more driven to become part of a newspaper that is dedicated to the community it serves. That ideal, I believe, is echoed throughout this newspaper, not only by our talented editorial staff, but employees throughout each department who work hard each day to provide the best newspaper to our readers," he said.
Mackey will replace former Metro Editor Ron Selak Jr., who will strengthen the Tribune Chronicle's business and political coverage with his investigative and research skills. Mackey was hired from the Tribune Chronicle's sister paper in East Liverpool to allow Selak to make the move.
Tribune Chronicle Editor Brenda J. Linert said she is confident these moves will improve local coverage for readers.
"I'm thrilled to be able to bring Jim and his level of management experience on board," Linert said. "This change also allows us to shore up our news staff with the consistently high level of reporting by Ron Selak."
Mackey started in the newspaper business in 1991 as a sportswriter for the Beaver County Times.
"I've been in both the sports section of the newspaper and the news side. I was sports editor at two publications, the Morning Journal (in Lisbon) and The Review in East Liverpool. I was named managing editor of The Review in 2008," he said, a role he filled until joining the Tribune Chronicle Nov. 5.
"I've been fortunate to have good people to work with through the years and that led us to good things. I do believe the same can be accomplished in taking this position with the Tribune Chronicle," he said.
He graduated in 1991 from Robert Morris College -- now Robert Morris University -- with a business administration degree in sports management. He said that while interning with the sports information office at the University of Pittsburgh, he met a sportswriter at the Beaver County Times who told him about an opening for a stringer.
Mackey took the job, became a part-time staff member a month later, fell in love with the business, and by 1993 was a full-time newspaperman with The Review, where he won writing awards for breaking news coverage.
Mackey has a son, Christopher, 22, and a daughter, Jessica, 15, a high school sophomore.
"I've enjoyed my time so far in Warren, and I'm looking forward to learning more about the area," Mackey said.
He can be contacted at the newspaper at 330-841-1738, Ext. 786, or at jmackey@tribtoday.com.
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