HOT SPRINGS, ARK. - A Hot Springs native has been tapped as the next editor of The Sentinel-Record as Beth Reed assumes the role that was held by Mark Gregory, who retired Monday after more than 42 years at the newspaper.
Reed first joined the staff at the newspaper in 2013, leaving in 2016 before returning approximately a year later. She has been the newspaper’s digital strategy manager since 2019, and her new position begins Tuesday, ensuring no break in leadership at the newspaper.
“Beth is innovative, hard working and a wonderful leader,” Eliza Gaines, the publisher of WEHCO Newspapers, said in an emailed statement. “As a native of Hot Springs, she has a deep knowledge of the community The Sentinel-Record serves. I’m confident in her ability to provide our readers with quality, trustworthy news while taking into account their changing habits and needs.”
Reed’s interest in journalism came at an early age, but it was her ninth-grade civics course at Lakeside that helped determine her future in the field.
“Our teacher, every morning before we started class, we had to spend about 10, 15, minutes reading the front page of The Sentinel-Record,” she recalled. “We’d have to write a short summary of everything that was on the front (page) that day. That carried through the rest of the time that I was in high school, but I didn’t ever get an opportunity to be on our school paper or yearbook staff.”
While she has plans for what the newspaper can be, Reed said many things will not change.
“We’re going to continue to hold a mirror to this community and report on the things that matter to our residents and our readers,” she said. “It’s going to be the good and the bad. I mean, that’s our job. Moving forward, the way that younger readers consume news is different from traditional journalism.
“Like we’ve done in the last seven years or so, we’ve added more multimedia elements. There’s going to be more of that. They can expect more social media engagement from our newsroom, and I want to build a sense of community with our readers, if that makes sense, because I think that’s what this next generation of readers that we’ve been reaching … are interested in, and that’s what they gravitate towards.”
Media literacy is something Reed is truly passionate about.
“Rather than shouting at people, ‘You should care about this. You should care about this,’ help them to understand the stories that we’re reporting on and what’s going on around them in their community,” she said.
“And get them from a younger age, too. Build a relationship with them from a younger age, so that when they are to a point where they can become a subscriber, they will.”
Reed said Gregory instilled in her the idea that “the power of the press is real.”
“Anytime that we have exposed or have shed light on something happening in our community that has prompted change from our community, … that’s always been the first thing he’s come out and said to me: ‘That’s the power of the press.’ That’s something that has always stuck with me,” she said.
While she is excited for the challenges of her new role, she also has some trepidation about having “some big shoes to fill.”
“He has built a relationship with this community and a level of respect in this community that I hope to achieve as well,” Reed said.
“I’ve been fortunate throughout this entire time that any role that I’ve taken on, any beat that I’ve taken on, he’s always said, ‘I’ll be right here. I’ll be right here to answer your questions. It’s not like I’m leaving.’ It is kind of daunting that this is the first time I’ll be taking on something, and he won’t be sitting across from me to answer questions or help,” she said.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here