Tricia Fulks

SHEPHERDSTOWN – Tricia Fulks has been named editor of The Shepherdstown Chronicle.

Also, Jennifer Wabnitz has been added to The Chronicle staff as the editorial assistant.

“I hope to maintain the tradition of community journalism as I take over The Chronicle,” Fulks said. “In the couple of weeks I’ve been here, I’ve seen that this truly is the people’s paper of Shepherdstown. But, as the industry changes, I think that it’s important to utilize The Chronicle’s website to the best of its abilities: multimedia, blogs and up-to-date news will allow readers to experience their community paper everyday.”

She replaces Dan Friend, who was editor of The Chronicle for about 10 years. He left to pursue a teaching career.

A Clarksburg, W.Va., native, Fulks graduated from West Virginia University with a bachelor of science degree in journalism and a minor in philosophy. She is pursuing a master of arts degree in interactive journalism from American University in Washington, D.C.

While at WVU, she was a staff writer for the school newspaper, Daily Athenaeum, covering the univeristy’s administration, and was city editor her senior year.

As a junior, Fulks co-founded West Virginia Uncovered, a project that provides digital media content and training to rural community newspapers.

Last year, she served as an AmeriCorps VISTA volunteer for WV Uncovered, launching a community journalism initiative in Tucker County with the Parson Advocate. She taught responsible journalism/new media fundamentals to area students, who served as the paper’s citizen journalists.

Fulks has been published in several weekly community newspapers around West Virginia, including the Parsons Advocate, Pocahontas Times and Nicholas Chronicle.

“I am pleased to have Tricia joining our Chronicle staff as editor,” Craig Bartoldson, publiher of The Chronicle, said. “We wanted to make sure that our commitment to the Shepherdstown area was reinforced with a person who we feel will showcase the best of this truly unique area. Tricia brings new and refreshing ideas to The Chronicle and I am sure will be a welcome addition to the community here.”

Wabnitz comes to The Chronicle from Canada via Oregon. She, her husband, Steve, and their six children moved to Shepherdstown two years ago, although the family had vacationed locally for several years prior to their move.

In Canada, she served as the public relations manager for Goodwill Industries for nine years and sold real estate in Oregon.

Wabnitz has a bachelor of science degree in biology and a small business degree from McMaster University in Ontario, Canada.

She decided to go back to work because her children are at the age where she can work and take care of her kids at the same time, she said.

“We invite your opinions. The Chronicle is your paper. Let us hear what you want,” she said.

“Jennifer is always bringing new and exciting story ideas to the forefront,” Bartoldson said. “I am looking forward to the energy she puts into her writing and hope that our readers enjoy her stories as much as we do.”

The Shepherdstown Chronicle is part of Ogden Newspapers Inc. with headquarters in Wheeling, W.Va.