Williston New Staff Members
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The Williston Herald is becoming almost as busy as the city it lives in, with three new reporters, a new sales representative and a new circulation director coming on board its staff.
Each new staff member is new to the Williston area, arriving throughout the month of July and the beginning of August. Jenna Ebersole, Payton Willey and Mark McNeillie are the missing pieces that completed the once under-staffed newsroom. They will be the newspaper’s permanent reporters.
Ebersole, an English major from Boston University ,arrived from her hometown, Lancaster, Penn. to Williston and began working at The Herald on July 11.
“I like the idea of covering a smaller town in America and moving to a new place, especially one where there is so much change happening and potential stories,” Ebersole said.
Ebersole wrote for her college paper, The Daily Free Press, and has had internships at The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era, the New England Center for Investigative Reporting, as well as a monthly English language paper in Madrid.
Willey, a journalism major with a concentration in news editorial, arrived just after Ebersole from her hometown of Plymouth, Mich. Willey graduated from Central Michigan University in May where she worked on the metro desk at the student newspaper, CM-Life, as well as the university’s online publication, Grand Central Magazine, covering arts and entertainment. Willey also interned at The Toledo Blade last summer, covering a variety of stories. Although she said it has been quite an adjustment coming from a larger city to the small town of Williston, her favorite part about the job has been getting to know the people in the community and the stories behind who they are and what they do.
McNeillie arrived to the Herald on July 9 from his hometown of Colorado Springs, Colo. He graduated in May from The University of Colorado as a journalism major with a concentration in news editorial.
McNeillie worked at the university’s newspaper as a reporter and editor, covering sports news. He also interned on the copy desk at The Colorado Springs Gazette as well as Transworld Business in Boulder, Colo. McNeillie said that he thinks Williston is a nice place.
“It’s an interesting place to live with all of the oil activity. It’s different than what I’m used to,” McNeillie said.
Aaron Hanson has come to the Herald to fill the position of sales representative. Hanson graduated in 2011 from Harding University in Searcy, Ark., with a bachelor’s degree in advertising. He arrived at the Herald on July 1 from his hometown of Gig Harbor, Wash. and said that his favorite part about his job is helping other businesses flourish. Hanson said that he enjoys the city of Williston because of the variety of people who inhabit it.
“There’s people from everywhere here,” Hanson said.
The new circulation director, Tom Siemers, arrived August 1. He has held the position of circulation director at the Bemidji Pioneer in Bemidji, Minn., his hometown, as well as at The Dickinson Press, and The Cañon Daily Record from Cañon City, Colo. Siemers was also the regional circulation manager at the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
Siemers, whose job is to work with the carriers and make sure papers get delivered, said that his favorite part of his job is providing customers with the service that they expect, and being able to work through any issues to make things right for them.
Siemers said that his favorite part of Williston is experiencing all of the things a boom town has to offer.
“It’s an exciting time and wonderful to be part of a hub of activity in this country right now,” Siemers said.
The new staff members said they hope to interact heavily with the community and provide them with quality news and services.