New faces in your newsroom or communication department? Let everyone know. Send your Media Moves to: email@idahopressclub.org
IDAHO BUSINESS REVIEW
Lauren Bonneau joined the Idaho Business Review on Feb. 8 as editor. She has spent the past 15 years working in the tech/software industry as a writer and editor for a Boston-based B2B trade publication, and recently relocated to Boise. Interim editor Sharon Fisher will become interim managing editor.
KIVI/KNIN/KSAW TV:
Multimedia journalist Natasha Williams moves from KSAW in Twin Falls to Boise as Good Morning Idaho multimedia journalist. Natasha has worked for KIVI since she was 15.
Kristen Skovira is the new anchor for Good Morning Idaho. Kristen previously was in Colorado Springs, but before that worked for Scripps stations in Nashville and Denver.
Ricardo Coronado is the nightside MMJ for KIVI and KNIN in Boise after a year reporting in Spanish for Telemundo in Salinas, Calif. Previously Ricky worked for KMVT in Twin Falls.
Jake Garcia will be the new weekend anchor and Investigative MMJ for KIVI and KNIN in Boise. Jake most recently was an anchor/reporter in Wichita Falls, Texas.
Mike Sharp is leaving KIVI as content manager and executive producer to take over Communications for Boise State University.
IDAHO STATESMAN
Assistant Editor Chadd Cripe has been named interim editor of the Idaho Statesman, after previous Editor Christina Lords was abruptly fired by McClatchy Co. in late January. Lords told the Washington Post she was fired for violating the company’s social media policy; the company declined to comment. After an outcry from the Statesman staff and the public, Lords said she later was offered her job back with certain conditions, but declined. She had been the Statesman’s top editor since early 2019.
IDAHO PRESS
The Idaho Press has hired reporter Erin Sheridan, who will focus on social justice and public safety. She previously reported for The Brownsville Herald in Texas on immigration and human rights issues at the U.S./Mexico border. Before that, she was a staff reporter and multimedia editor at The Indypendent (yes, that’s the correct spelling) in Brooklyn and covered housing displacement, climate justice, and independence movements in Puerto Rico. Erin will replace Tommy Simmons, who joined the Idaho Anti-Trafficking Coalition in January.
Reporter Paul Schwedelson is joining the Idaho Press staff, focusing on covering growth and the cities of Nampa and Caldwell. Paul has been a reporter with our sister paper, the Bozeman Daily Chronicle, for the past three and a half years. Before that he was a sports intern with the Philadelphia Inquirer. He graduated from Syracuse University in 2017 with a bachelor’s in broadcast and digital journalism and psychology. Paul will replace Erin Bamer, who moved to Pennsylvania in November to report on education for the York Dispatch.
Sydney Kidd will join the Idaho Press Feb. 9 as a copy editor. Sydney previously interned at the Boise Weekly and is a skilled writer and reporter. She graduated from Utah State University in journalism, and interned at Deseret News.
Olivia Heersink, formerly the Idaho Press’ Canyon County public safety reporter, has accepted a communications position with the House and Senate Democrats. Former Ada County reporter Thomas Plank has moved back to Denver to be closer to family.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Greg Hahn, former associate vice president for communications and marketing at Boise State University, has left that role and started a new position in January as executive director of SUREL’S PLACE, a non-profit artist residency built on the legacy of longtime Boise artist and civic leader Surel Mitchell. Hahn had been with BSU since 2013; he previously worked as a producer and host at Idaho Public Television and as a reporter and editor at the Idaho Statesman.
Mike Journee has opened Journee Communications & Consulting in Boise. He previously was the communications director for the Office of the Mayor in Boise for five years; was the press secretary for then-Gov. Dirk Kempthorne; and worked as a public relations professional and a newspaper reporter and editor in Boise, Twin Falls, and Jasper, Texas.
The Idaho Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee named Olivia Heersink as its Communications and Development Director on Dec. 28. Heersink was formerly a reporter for the Idaho Press, and for the Times of Northwest Indiana; she is a University of Idaho graduate.
Boise State University has named Mike Sharp as its new director of media relations. Sharp has been executive producer at KIVI-TV for three years, after serving for four years as the public relations coordinator for the Idaho Foodbank. Previously, Sharp worked for the Idaho Press-Tribune, KTIK-AM, 670 KBOI, Newsradio KINF and 12 KTRV.
