New staff named for Chowan Herald

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Chowan Herald Publisher Sean O’Brien has named a new management team for the newspaper.

“We are pleased to welcome an experienced and dedicated team to Edenton to lead the Chowan Herald,” O’Brien said. “I believe our readers and advertisers will be pleased with the product they see in the coming months.”

O’Brien has named veteran newspaper editor Thadd White as Group Editor of the Chowan Herald and Perquimans Weekly. White will be joined by Managing Editor Leslie Beachboard and a staff of reporters and writers.

 

White has been in the newspaper business for the better part of three decades and has been Editor of the Bertie Ledger-Advance in Windsor for the past nine years. Before that, he was Managing Editor of the Roanoke-Chowan News-Herald in Ahoskie.

“I have worked in eastern North Carolina all my life, and have been in the newspaper business the vast majority of that time,” White said. “I look forward to getting to know the people of Chowan County better over the coming weeks and months.

“We will focus on the ‘community’ in community newspapers,” White insisted. “We will be fiercely local in our coverage and in our beliefs.”

White is a graduate of Bertie High School and attended Campbell University.

Beachboard has worked for Adams Publishing Group (APG) for the past five years, serving as a reporter for the Bertie Ledger-Advance and The Enterprise. After multiple years of service, she was promoted to News Editor before becoming Managing Editor of those two publications.

“Chowan County is a place I spend a lot of time already and I’m looking forward to being there a lot in the coming weeks,” Beachboard said. “I have a strong belief in community newspapers and we will always listen to our community about what they want and need from their newspaper.”

Beachboard is a graduate of Lawrence Academy and earned her bachelor’s degree at East Carolina University.

Joining the staff of the Chowan Herald will also be Andre’ Alfred, who will handle sports and events for a handful of APG publications.

“We were fortunate to partner with The Perquimans Weekly, the Bertie Ledger-Advance and The Enterprise to bring in someone to handle sports in all of our communities,” White said. “Andre has vast experience as a photographer and will be an outstanding asset to all our publications.”

Alfred has owned and operated Andre Alfred Imaging for nearly two decades. He has photographed sporting events from local recreation leagues to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“I am excited to be working with four local newspapers to help provide strong sports coverage,” Alfred said. “We will be focusing on our high schools in each county to make our newspapers even better.”

In addition to the three new staff members, the Chowan Herald is in the process of searching for an additional reporter at this time.

In the meantime, former Chowan Herald Editor Reggie Ponder has stepped in to help provide local coverage.

“We appreciate Reggie stepping in to help us during this transition,” O’Brien said. “His knowledge of Chowan County has made this a seamless transition.”

One change in the office on Broad Street will be the consolidation of the Perquimans Weekly office into the Chowan Herald location.

“We will be able to better serve both counties with all our staff under one roof,” White said. “While we may have consolidated office spaces, it will not affect our coverage of either county.”

White said the staff is in the process of moving into the Edenton office and getting settled.

“Once everything is settled and our final staff member is in place, we will be inviting the public to come by for an open house to meet everyone and see our reworked office space,” White said. “We look forward to that in the coming months.”

O’Brien said he knows the new staff will continue the tradition of the Chowan Herald.

“The Chowan Herald has a rich history just like the town and county it covers,” he said. “We are all looking forward to the next chapter in the life of our newspaper.”