Kyle Cooke has stepped into the editor’s role at The Rockdale Reporter, continuing the leadership role for the fourth generation of the Cooke family at their hometown newspaper.
Cooke assumed editor duties on Sept. 8. His appointment as editor follows the departure of David Money, who took a job with The Paris (Texas) News, a part of Southern Newspapers Inc.
“I have the best team I could possibly hope for in place and we are all looking forward to bringing our readers the award-winning news they have come to expect,” Cooke said.
Cooke spent most of his career in Houston on the advertising side of the newspaper industry, working for the The Houston Post, Houston Chronicle and The Greensheet, a classified advertising publication. He also worked for Castle Biosciences for four years before returning to Rockdale to become general manager of The Reporter.
“We are so proud to have my brother take the lead on the editorial side of the paper,” said Ken Esten Cooke, publisher of The Reporter and the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post in Fredericksburg. “He has extensive experience in all departments of a newspaper and at all sizes of newspapers, so he is a natural. Our readers have enjoyed having him write columns and editorials since his return to the paper as our general manager last year.”
Publisher Emeritus J.W. “Bill” Cooke was also pleased to see his son step into the editor’s role.
“Kyle will maintain a high-quality focus on local news that is the backbone of running a community newspaper,” Bill Cooke said. “We are pleased to see him offer to step into this leadership role and see him have input on many issues that are important to Rockdale. Rockdale is seeing an influx of new business, new residents and new entrepreneurial energy, and Kyle will be a part of that, as well as report on others who are adding to a positive climate in town.”
- Log in or Subscribe to post comments.