Newspaper announces
changes among staff

Longtime staff member Clara Cartrette has been named news editor of The News Reporter. She succeeds Lee Hinnant, who has accepted the news editor’s position at The State Port Pilot in Southport.

Cartrette, who has worked in the news department for nearly 45 years, has covered every beat at the paper and most recently served as lifestyles editor. She has won numerous North Carolina Press Association, North Carolina Press Women, plus national press organization awards.

Hinnant is an award-winning writer who joined The News Reporter 14 years ago as news editor after working at newspapers in Danville, Va., and Tampa, Fla. He will manage The Pilot’s newsroom.

“This is a great move for both papers and both people,” said The News Reporter Publisher Jim High. “Lee will be able to use his talents to manage the growing State Port Pilot and Clara will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience as news editor at The News Reporter.”

In addition, Fuller Royal, who has been a staff member for 10 years, has been named layout editor. Now, portions of The News Reporter are put together using paper and some pages are “paginated” on computers. By year’s end, the entire paper will be put together digitally before it is printed, bypassing the “paste-up” phase.

Royal, Photographer Mark Gilchrist and whiteville.com designer Clarissa Hamilton will also work on upgrading the paper’s website. See Editor Les High’s column on today’s editorial page for more details.