TAYLOR — Granite Media Partners Inc., the parent company of The Boerne Star, has named veteran journalist Thomas Edwards as executive editor to round out its management team, CEO Daniel Philhower announced last week.
Edwards joined the company Jan. 3, Philhower said. Granite Media Partners Inc. operates 10 non-daily community newspapers and a printing press.
“We are honored to have Thomas join our Granite family of community newspapers,” Philhower said. “Together with Thomas’ vast experience, we look forward to elevating our editorial products in 2022 and better serve our communities and our readers.”
Edwards said he is delighted to be a part of Granite’s growth.
“Granite Media Partners is a company with a solid reputation for journalistic excellence,” Edwards said. “I look forward to providing mentorship, guidance and training to the editorial staffs at Granite’s various publications.”
Edwards said one thing he tells reporters is to “leave your baggage at the door.”
“I explain to them, no reader cares what your personal feelings are about the story you’re covering,” he said. “You are a daily historian, a conduit for facts and an eyewitness for the rest of the community. Nothing more. Don’t act exalted; climb down from the ivory tower. Get in touch with your audience and stay connected; never talk down to them.”
He continued by saying, “If something doesn’t seem right, then investigate. But, don’t invent the news.”
Edwards said those principles have served him well during an almost 40-year newspaper career which mostly has been spent covering – and gaining the trust of – law enforcement and the military, which he said are “not exactly bosom buddies to the press.”
“Yet, I never had any trouble getting what I needed from them, for the most part, because they always knew I’d give them a fair shake,” he said, adding that there are newspaper staffs, including at The Star, just trying to do their jobs objectively without prejudice or an agenda.
“We’re your neighbors, and we should never forget that,” Edwards said.
Star General Manager and Editor Keith E. Domke, who also has nearly 40 years in the business, said he is looking forward to working with Edwards.
“One of the goals we have here at The Star is to provide you with a quality product,” Domke said. “And we’re doing that and will continue to do that. Working with Thomas to help ensure that will be a pleasure and something I look forward to doing.”
A self-described “military brat,” Edwards said he started his professional journalism career at age 19 working for a mid-size daily in central Louisiana.
His work experience includes serving as editor of LOCAL Community News in San Antonio; editor of the River Cities Daily Tribune and The Picayune in Marble Falls; editor and police reporter at the San Antonio Express-News; editor of Prime Time Newspapers Inc.; a general-assignment reporter at the Alexandria, La., Daily Town Talk; and a former co-host of the “Crime Show” on KTSA radio.
He also has several awards to his credit, including honors from the Texas Press Association, the Louisiana Press Association, the Texas Community Newspaper Association and Texas Associated Press Managing Editors.
Edwards lives with his wife on a 6-acre horse farm near Bastrop. His office will be at Granite headquarters in Taylor.
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