Former newspaper employee promoted

Sunday, October 12, 2008

LAKE CITY, Fla. -- Former Standard-Democrat staff member Todd Wilson has been promoted to publisher of the Lake City Reporter, a daily newspaper in Lake City, Fla. He took over as the newspaper's chief executive on July 21.

Before his promotion, Wilson served as editor of the Lake City Reporter since 2004. From 1989-1995, he held positions as a reporter, city editor and sports editor at the Standard-Democrat in Sikeston, Mo.

An East Prairie, Mo. native, Wilson, 39, has worked in news and advertising positions with newspaper companies in Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas before moving to Florida. He is an East Prairie High School graduate and earned a bachelor's degree in mass communication from Southeast Missouri State University.

"Mike Jensen gave me my first full-time job at the Democrat Advertiser, then he was kind enough to hire me at the Standard-Democrat and give me a chance to chase my newspaper dream and work my way through college," Wilson said. "Mike taught me the importance of community partnerships and the responsibility a newspaper has to its readers and to helping its community thrive. I carry this mindset and these business practices with me every day."

As an editor, Wilson has led his news staffs to more than 130 journalism awards during his career, including four consecutive General Excellence Awards as the best newspaper in its division during his tenure as managing editor of the Wynne (Ark.) Progress. In 1990 at the Standard-Democrat, Wilson was a first-place winner in The Associated Press Missouri Managing Editors writing contest in both breaking news and sports writing.

In Florida, Wilson led the Lake City Reporter news team to earn the Florida Springs Protection award for its saturation coverage of issues concerning ground water quality and springs endangerment in and around Columbia County. In 2007, Wilson led the news team in its coverage of the Bugaboo Wildfire, one of the largest blazes in the documented history of wildfires in the Southeast. The news team's accomplishments in both the print and online editions earned the Lake City Reporter the 2008 President's Award -- the top journalism award given by parent company Community Newspapers, Inc.

As publisher of the Lake City Reporter, Wilson will oversee the printed issue of the newspaper, as well as lakecityreporter.com and Currents magazine.

Wilson is married to the former Michelle King of Sikeston. The couple has two children, Lauren Wilson, 7, and Ryan Mitchell, 19, a student at Southeast Missouri State University. He is the son of Aubrey and Dora Wilson of East Prairie and the son-in-law of Bill and Virginia King of Morehouse, Mo.

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