Christie Swanson named editor of Norman Transcript

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Christie Swanson, a newspaper veteran with more than a quarter century of journalism experience, is the new editor of The Norman (Okla.) Transcript.

Swanson worked in newspapers in Northwest Arkansas for more than 15 years. She served as managing editor for the Northwest Arkansas Times and coordinated the news coverage of Fayetteville and Washington County, Ark., supervising several news reporters and copy editors.

Following a merger, the paper became the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. She worked as a business reporter covering the Walmart beat and most recently served as metro editor managing multiple reporters.

The Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette won general excellence two of the past three years in the Arkansas Press Association's largest newspaper category. One of Swanson's reporters also was named best beat reporter in this year's competition.

Prior to working at the Northwest Arkansas Times, she spent nearly a decade in several capacities at the Yankton Daily Press and Dakotan in Yankton, S.D.

An Iowa native, Swanson is a 1996 graduate of the University of South Dakota, where she earned a degree in mass communications with a minor in English.

Swanson said working in Fayetteville gives her the perspective of publishing a newspaper in a Division I college town. She looks forward to joining the Norman community and producing journalism that touches the busy lives of people, going beyond the who, when and where to tell why it happened and what it means to readers.

"I cut my teeth on small-town journalism, doing everything from reporting, taking photos, designing pages to editing at a six-day newspaper in South Dakota," Swanson said. "Those experiences helped me move to my current job where I have served as a business reporter, managing editor and metro editor. Now I am at a point in my career where I want a new challenge. "

Publisher Mark Millsap said he was impressed with Swanson's level-headed, no-nonsense attitude and her sound news judgment.

"After conducting a nationwide search, Christie was the obvious choice to lead our newsroom going forward," Millsap said. "She's ready to roll up her sleeves to produce the highest quality of local journalism – both online and in print."

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