David Bell chosen as managing editor of EA Courier
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David Bell, of Lake Havasu City, Ariz., has been selected as managing editor of the Eastern Arizona Courier in Safford, Ariz., and plans to join the staff on Jan. 7, 2013.
"The Courier is in a really great place, with a talented, knowledgeable staff and a publisher who cares about the product and the community," Bell said in an interview Thursday, Dec. 20. "The next step for me is to find the right balance within the team to benefit from their strengths."
Bell has been the sports editor for Today's News-Herald, a daily newspaper in Lake Havasu City, for eight years between the present and 1996. His duties there included sports coverage, including reporting and photography, as well as reporting on city, county and state news, features, business and special sections, and page layout for all of those sections.
Bell has also spent nearly five years during that time as a news director for Murphy Broadcasting's radio stations in Arizona, California and Nevada, where he managed the news staff and compiled and edited news and public service announcements for seven stations. He was responsible for updating and maintaining a 24-hour internet news station and hosted a daily live two-hour issues-oriented phone-in talk show for two years. He also compiled, edited and did layout for a five-times weekly e-Press mailing and hosted live broadcasts during meetings and other news breaks.
Bell also started his own advertising and marketing consultant business for local business clients in Lake Havasu City, and prior to working in communications, he spent time as a restaurant manager, mortgage accounting coordinator and even a stint as a writer/actor for stage productions in Chicago, after studying film at Columbia College and theater at the Players Workshop of The Second City in Chicago.
Bell also studied criminal justice at Triton Community College in River Grove, Ill., and communications at the College of St. Scholastica in Duluth, Minn.
"This is not the typical path for a job in journalism, but I look at it this way: every experience lends itself to a different perspective. I've worked in a variety of areas, such as mortgage banking, and think I understand more what the average reader would like," Bell said of his varied experiences.
He has also been involved in many organizations in the Lake Havasu City community, including being on the board of Hospice of Havasu (as vice president), Lake Havasu Community Concert Association (VP or marketing) and the Lake Havasu Crisis Line.Bell also served on numerous committees there, such as Great Race/Main Street Planning Committee, Lake Havasu Rodeo, Arthritis Walk and Lake Havasu City Film Fest committees. He also spent time volunteering at schools and coaching youth sports.Bell said he looks forward to his arrival in Safford.
"This is new territory for me, something I've never done. I've never been part of a farming and mining community. Knowing those are the two big drivers, I'm excited to learn as much as I can. These are backbones of America – you can't get more American than that, and I get to be a part of it. That excites me," he said.
He said he has "done every facet of newspapers, except classifieds. I've sold and built ads and covered everything you can cover as a reporter, except faming and mining..."
Bell added, "I've never met such friendly people as those I met in Safford and Thatcher when I was there for a visit. They were genuinely friendly. I just don't know how to pick who to root for in the Thatcher-Safford rivalry. I understand they get along great as communities, until it's sports time."
Publisher Monica Watson said, "We are looking forward to David joining our editorial staff and our winning newspaper team and being involved in our community."