Southeast Missourian names new managing editor

The Southeast Missourian has welcomed a new employee to its newsroom staff. Lindsay Jones, who hails from western Tennessee, is the publication's new managing editor.

Though most of their belongings still are in Memphis and the two have been roughing it a bit, Jones and her son, Oliver, are enjoying the "different vibe" Cape Girardeau gives.

"It's a very good feeling," she said. "I liked that right away. It's a breath of fresh air."

In addition to her role as managing editor, Jones will also oversee the Southeast Missourian's special publications. The newspaper will be adding two writers soon. Jones said people already have shown kindness. An anonymous stranger bought Jones and her son dessert on one of their first evenings in town.

"That was the sweetest random act of kindness I've ever experienced," she said. "I took it as a very good sign."

Originally from Long Island, N.Y., Jones, 37, moved to Tennessee before high school. She graduated from the University of Memphis with a bachelor's degree in journalism after attending a junior college. She has worked in journalism in "some shape or form" since 1997 before she graduated from the university two years later.

Jones started out as a writer and then transitioned into editing until Oliver grew older. Jones worked as a production editor for an agriculture magazine and later did similar work for a not-for-profit organization.

Jones jumped back into mainstream journalism as a managing editor for a small newspaper, where she had the opportunity to re-imagine, redesign and rebuild the daily publication.

"As a young reporter, there were things I saw out there in the world that I thought could be done better," Jones said, and she was given the opportunity to mold the publication to be so.

"I think building things from scratch really gives you a sense of how things fit together," she said.

Within her first year at the newspaper, it began winning awards.

Jones most recently worked for an international company that hired her as a representative to build publications from the ground up. She was responsible for organizing and managing the content for several local monthly magazines, of which 85 percent of content was submitted.

It was a position that required Jones to wear many hats, so it was right up her alley, she said.

One of Jones' favorite aspects of her career is being able to develop people, especially young reporters, and teach them how to tackle projects and recognize their talents.

Though she enjoyed her reporter days, Jones, being the quiet and thoughtful type, found a different aspect of the job she liked better.

"I like the bigger picture and putting all the things together," instead of working with "one piece of the pie," she said.

Her niche is news publications with local coverage in smaller communities, because she considers the people in such communities more "real."

"Anything can be interesting," Jones said. Whether in a bigger city or smaller town, "stories are everywhere when you learn to recognize them."

A smaller staff allows for a more concentrated focus on content. Jones said she has found smaller publications can do so much with so little, whereas larger organizations may suffer under their own weight and do little with so much.

Jones joins the Southeast Missourian team "mainly just to help keep things humming on as many levels as possible," she said, making sure daily news content, as well as features content, is everything it needs to be. Jones said she also will support the editor in his role and help reporters step up their game.

"You can do anything you want to if the will is there, and I like to develop that will and stoke it to life," she said. "And that's why this profession is fun."

Though most of her free time is devoted to her son, Jones said they both enjoy action movies and swimming. She also is an avid reader and loves to decorate their home -- particularly with anything Old-World-related.

Matt Sanders, the Southeast Missourian's previous managing editor, now is the city editor at the Columbia Daily Tribune in Columbia, Mo.

ashedd@semissourian.com

388-3632

Pertinent address:

301 Broadway, Cape Girardeau, MO