A journalist with four decades of experience took the reins of the Washita Valley Weekly this week.
Conrad Easterday, a native of Meade, Kan., began keeping communities informed even before graduating from Kansas State University in 1985. Student internships at The Colby Free Press and Kansas City Star were followed by reporting and editing positions in all four corners of the state until he found a home as managing editor of The Pratt Tribune, a small daily in the center of Kansas. Over 28 years, he and the Tribune earned dozens of state awards for news coverage.
In 2013, Easterday was named publisher of the Tribune and The Dodge City Daily Globe along with two sister publications in south-central Kansas, a position he enjoyed for five years.
Now a resident of Chickasha, the former Kansan finds the Sooner state both familiar and uniquely different.
“Oklahoma and Kansas face a lot of the same challenges and share a lot of the same strengths to meet those challenges,” he said. “Both states, especially in rural areas, are politically conservative and driven economically by what happens in the oil patch and the wheat field. The connections between family and friends are deep and far-reaching. I’ve felt as home in Oklahoma during the past year as I ever did in all my years in Kansas.
“I am impressed with Oklahomans’ intense enthusiasm for their teams whether they cheer for Sooners or Cowboys — or Fightin’ Chicks. And I know a lot of states pride themselves on their hospitality and friendliness, but ever since visiting family in Laverne as a teen, I’ve always believed Oklahoma takes that particular prize.”
Easterday will build on Washita Valley’s already strong focus on community in both the print edition and online at www.chickashatoday.com. He invites Chickasha and area residents to help shape the future of their local news outlet by sending story ideas and suggestions to conrad@washitavalleyweekly.com.
The Washita Valley Weekly is mailed free to 15,000 residents of Grady and Caddo counties. It has been published as a free newspaper since it was established in 2003 by current owner and publisher Wayne Watts.
“Conrad’s going to be a great addition to our team in Chickasha,” said Watts, who also owns and publishes the Chisholm Trail free community newspaper in Duncan. “He’s lived and worked at newspapers like ours all of his adult life. We know our readers will enjoy what he brings to the pages of the Washita Valley Community News”