Felts named editor/publisher of Ottawa Herald

An editor who helped The Ottawa Herald achieve acclaim as one of the top newspapers in the state has been chosen to lead the nearly 150-year-old media company.

Tommy Felts, now managing editor, is set to become The Herald’s editor and publisher March 7. He will succeed departing publisher Jeanny Sharp, who has been named advertising director of The Hutchinson News, a sister company of The Herald.

“We will continue building on the legacy of The Ottawa Herald,” Felts said. “Even as we embrace change and tackle new challenges in the media industry, we remain committed to a quality newspaper in print and online, as well as other vital promotions and communication services for our customers and partners in Ottawa and Franklin County.”

Felts, 33, has been in The Herald’s newsroom since 2005, serving as managing editor since 2009, as well as becoming a fixture on the newspaper’s opinion page.

“Tommy knows the community and the expectations of our readers and clients,” Sharp said Wednesday. “His leadership will shepherd The Herald into a new era — navigating a media environment that looks much different than it did even 10 years ago.

“You can be confident The Herald is in good hands.”

Felts, who was raised on a hog farm near Liberty, Kansas, is a graduate of Texas A&M University-Commerce where he studied journalism and political science.

At The Herald, Felts led the news team to five consecutive sweepstakes awards from the Kansas Press Association and three Burton W. Marvin enterprise reporting awards from the William Allen White Foundation at the University of Kansas.

He was named one of Editor & Publisher magazine’s top “25 Under 35” in 2014.

“We think Tommy will be a good fit for the company and the community,” Bruce Buchanan, president of Harris Enterprises, the parent company of The Herald, said. The Harris group’s holdings include the Herald and five other media companies in Kansas and Iowa.