The Waco Bridge has announced the hiring of their founding team, which includes JB Smith as Editor-in-Chief, Andrea Kosar as General Manager, and Dominic Villa as Community Engagement and Events Manager.
In a press release Thursday, the Waco Bridge described the trio as “well-established Wacoans who know the community and are ready to lead this organization.”
The Waco Bridge is the first of The Texas Tribune’s new local news initiative to provide local, paywall-free news to communities across the state. The Texas Tribune will provide back-end support in the form of technology and website support, human resources and marketing.
Editor-in-Chief JB Smith has 33 years of journalism experience, including seven years as Managing Editor for the Waco Tribune-Herald. Smith will lead the newsroom with editorial decisions, guide local reporting and drive engagement focused news.
He said that he is excited for this new role.
“I feel like this is kind of what I've been prepared to do for the last couple of decades and I hope that that we can really be useful to the community,” he said.
The digital-first newsroom will focus on local reporting, but seeks to be additive to the existing news landscape in media.
“Our model is not going to be to try to cover everything,” Smith said. “The model is to look at everything through the lens of the citizen, of the person who is affected by decisions.”
Smith said that means the newsroom may cover a city council or school board meeting, but they will be looking at the community impact of the meetings.
The Waco Bridge also plans to build news off of local partnerships with non-profits, schools, businesses and existing media organizations.
General Manager Andrea Kosar has decades of experience in nonprofit management, business development and media. She most recently served as the president and CEO of the Cen-Tex Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She will drive station fundraising.
Community Engagement and Events Manager Dominic Villa will focus on building connections across Waco and McLennan County. He has served as part of the marketing team for TFNB Your Bank for Life. He has also collaborated with local businesses and nonprofits.
The Waco Bridge hopes to hire two local reporters by April. Those positions are live now wacobridge.org/jobs.
