Editor named to lead Journal & Courier

A veteran Texas journalist is returning to her roots in Indiana to lead three USA Today Network newspapers, including the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. 

Deanna Watson, who has spent three decades at the Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas, including the last 13 years as editor, will lead the news operations at the Lafayette Journal & Courier, The Star Press in Muncie and The Palladium-Item in Richmond.

"We're excited to have Deanna join the Indiana team. Her experience shows that she will bring a focus on enterprise journalism to our newsrooms and help continue our transformation into strong digital news outlets," said Alan Achkar, the South Bend Tribune's executive editor who also oversees the USA Today Network's northern Indiana newspapers.

"She's going to help remind readers why their local newspapers are vital, and she's committed to listening to our readers' views and concerns."

Watson was born in Jeffersonville, in southeast Indiana, and spent her first 10 years in nearby Clarksville and Henryville. She said she is looking forward to the chance to be close to family members.

“I have aunts and uncles across the state," Watson said. "I miss the Sundays growing up when I saw dozens of cousins at lunch. My grandparents are gone, but the aunts and uncles are around."

One of Watson's daughters is an associate producer for CBS News' political team, and the other is a freshman at Indiana University, studying sports media.

The opportunity to move “came at an interesting time in my life, with an empty nest after my youngest left for college in Indiana," she said. "I want to take this opportunity to take what I’ve learned in Texas to these three good-sized newspapers in Indiana and continue the community commitment to journalism."

Watson will start in her new position on Nov. 30 and will work remotely for a few weeks. She plans to move to Indiana by the beginning of next year and will be based in Lafayette.

“Deanna will work tirelessly to ensure that the community sees the newsroom as the place for news and information that doesn’t shy away from asking tough questions and that embraces telling the stories of special people and places that are unique,” said Katrice Hardy, Indianapolis Star executive editor and Midwest Regional Editor for USA Today Network.

Watson got her start in journalism at the Times Record News in 1992, when former Editor Carroll Wilson took a chance on her.

Despite her initial interest in public relations and marketing, Watson applied for a reporting position at the newspaper after she and her husband, Sam, moved to Texas. 

“I showed Carroll my marketing campaigns and ad copy and he said, ‘Well, you write well. If you can write well, I can teach you how to be a journalist,'” Watson recalled.

She served in several roles at the newspaper before being named editor in 2007. Watson was the first female editorial page editor and the first female editor in the newspaper’s history.

Watson said her love for journalism began, and remains, in the ability to tell stories.

“I’ve always enjoyed the storytelling part of it. I’m never at a loss for words,” she said with a laugh.

Watson also said journalists have a responsibility to ask questions that residents might  not be able to.

“We’re an advocate for the people of the community, to ask the tough questions of public figures they may not have access to,” she said.

Watson believes in supporting important causes, such as the fight against hunger or highlighting local arts and nonprofit organizations.

Equally important, she said, is a newspaper's mission to produce stories that have communitywide impact.

During the historic recent drought in Texas, for example, the Times Record News published hundreds of stories over the span of a year on all aspects of water, including conservation, water reuse projects and even issues as simple as reading a meter. City leaders credited the newspaper with helping make Wichita Falls an example of successful water conservation.

Looking ahead to Indiana, Watson said she's eager to meet her new colleagues and learn what makes each of their communities unique.

“I want to see what the readers want to know about," she said. "I want to know how we can help be a force to their tell stories and get connections in the community."