Jason Sandford
Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.
Former Asheville Citizen-Times reporter Paul Clark has been hired as interim editor at The Black Mountain News. Clark replaces Jennifer Fitzgerald, who left the newspaper a couple of weeks ago.
Fitzgerald was a former Citizen-Times advertising sales representative who took on editing duties at The Black Mountain News. The weekly was purchased by Multimedia in 1995. At the time, Multimedia also owned the Asheville Citizen-Times. Later that same year, Gannett, the largest newspaper chain in the U.S., acquired Multimedia.
Clark had worked for the Citizen-Times for 20 years or more when he was laid off by Gannett about three years ago. He’s been working as a freelance magazine and newspaper writer since then. He’s also been a steady freelance photographer for the Citizen-Times during that period.
In a recent column, Clark says he’s excited about his new gig. A snippet:
Editing was a big part of the job, which prepared me well for my current duties here at The Black Mountain News. I have the privilege of editing two excellent staff writers and one crackerjack photographer and hope soon to contribute to the news flow by producing stories and photos myself.
First I’ve got to get the hang of some new editing software that right now is driving me crazy.
From time to time, you’ll see Asheville Citizen-Times content in the paper, but only when the Citizen-Times, which operates The Black Mountain News, has covered something that pertains to the Swannanoa Valley. The Black Mountain News has always been, for what I can tell, the community’s newspaper and that’s certainly not going to change now.
Clark is the latest former Asheville Citizen-Times reporter to return to Gannett. Joel Burgess, a former reporter for both the Citizen-Times and Black Mountain News, recently started covering local government for the CT. And Tonya Maxwell, a former reporter at the CT, was just hired back to cover the environment in upstate South Carolina and Western North Carolina while based out of the Gannett-owned Greenville News in Greenville, S.C.
Congratulations Paul! You are a fantastic journalist and photographer, and I hope the Black Mountain News knows what an accomplished, wonderful person they are getting!
Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
That is a mean comment. Please stop.
Did Paul Clark apply for the position, or was it just offered to him?
Would Jason Sandford return to the Citizen-Times or to Gannett if asked?
Media Watcher, I don’t know if Paul applied or not. I’ll ask. I was told that it was an interim position, so I infer that he was asked, since he has maintained a direct line to the Citizen-Times through his regular freelancing with Asheville Scene.
Jason Sandford would not return to the Citizen-Times or to Gannett if asked. But I highly doubt that Gannett would ever ask.