New editor joins Tea Weekly
Readers of Tea Weekly will notice a change this week as Jamie Hult has started her first week as editor of the newspaper. Hult’s first day was last Thursday, and the newspaper veteran hit the ground running with a full day at the office and an appearance at the annual Tea Economic Development Spring Social. Hult’s connection with Tea began nearly 10 years ago when she worked for the then owned Argus Leader Tea-Harrisburg Champion.
She said, “Not only do I love the Tea community, but I’m a community weekly newspaper gal through and through. I kind of naturally ‘interview’ people – pretty much everyone I meet. I want to know their stories, what they think, what their quirks are. I like to listen. Everyone has a story.”
Publisher Kelli Bultena said, “I’m so excited to have a full-time editor again, and to find someone with the experience and writing talent that Jamie has is phenomenal. I look forward to working with her and growing our Tea newspaper to its full potential.”
Although Hult is usually on the other end of this scenario she graciously answered some questions for us to share her own story.
Tell us a little about your newspaper background.
I started my writing “career” when I was about eight with short stories and silly poems/jingles for products like Hidden Valley Ranch and Glade Potpourri Spray. I got my first newspaper gig at 16 as a summer intern, and that’s when I fell in love with community newspapers. My shining moment was getting to cover a Neighborhood Watch meeting. It was sheer luck; neither of the two reporters could make it.
I grew up in Jackson, Tennessee, and attended Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri. I double-majored in English with an emphasis in Writing as a Profession and Film Studies.
I’ve previously written for newspapers in Harrisburg, Mitchell, Tea, Turner County and, most recently, Lyon County, IA. I’ve also worked as a marketing copywriter in Sioux Falls and Rock Rapids, IA. When I was 28, I was named Outstanding Young Journalist of the Year by the South Dakota Newspaper Association. You can’t get it if you’re over 30, so I was cutting it pretty close.
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