Dayton native Tyler Anderson has joined The Graphic-Advocate staff as Editor, where he’s looking forward to providing the community with coverage of all things news and sports in the local area.

“We would like to welcome Tyler to the Mid-America Family,” said Mid-America Publishing President Pam DeVries. “We’re excited to have him on board. Tyler is a talented photographer and writer with a passion for news and sports, and we look forward to what he can bring to our readers.”

Mid-America Publishing Vice President Toni Venteicher says she’s looking forward to working closely with Anderson at The Graphic Advocate. “I’m very excited to have Tyler on board as our new editor,” Venteicher said. “He’s going to a be great addition not only to our team at The Graphic Advocate, but he’s going to bring so much to the entire Mid-America Publishing team. He brings with him a joy of photography and a great hometown feel. His love for sports, features and writing will bring so much to our paper, and we’re very lucky to have him join us.”

Anderson, who has experience at weekly and daily newspapers in Iowa and Texas, started his new position at the paper last week, and says he’s excited to jump right in and get to work. “It’s an honor and a privilege to be part of such a great team, and a great company,” Anderson said. “It’s really exciting; I’m looking forward to all the new opportunities and challenges, and I can’t wait to get to know the community and everyone in it better.”

Anderson graduated from Southeast Webster High School in 2005 and attended Iowa Central Community College with the intent of going into radio, but decided to move to Texas instead, where he studied at West Texas A&M University. It was during his time in Texas that Anderson discovered his passion for journalism, when he landed a job as a sports writer.

“It wasn’t until about 2012 that I really got into writing,” he said. “I started out covering soccer, and really expanded from there. First I was a sports r e p o r t e r , then I was an assistant editor, and just slowly worked my way up.”

After he graduate d f r o m college in 2015, And e r s o n came back to Iowa and worked as a reporter for the Dayton Review and Gowrie News, where he honed his craft even further. From there, Anderson moved back to Texas to work as the Sports Editor at a bi-weekly paper in Dumas, Texas - though he continued to do freelance work and contribute as a columnist to the Dayton Leader. After leaving the newspaper in Dumas, Anderson joined the Amarillo Globe-News in Amarillo, Texas, where he worked as a freelance sports writer and photographer.

When he heard about the open position in Lake City, Anderson jumped on the chance to come back to Iowa. “It’s great to be back, I’ve got a lot of family and friends in the area, so I’m looking forward to catching up with them and meeting new people as well,” he said. “This is such a great area, and I’m really looking forward to being a part of it.”

Anderson will be covering news, sports and everything in between for The Graphic-Advocate, and he’s looking forward to re-acquainting himself with the news side of the business after focusing on sports for so long.

“Sports has always been my bread and butter, but it’ll be a good challenge for me to re-acquaint myself with the news side of things,” he said. “I’m looking forward to digging into stories, and experimenting with some unique features.”

With a strong background in videography and photography, Anderson says it’ll be his goal to focus on amping up those areas for the paper, while also growing the paper’s presence online and on social media. “I want to focus on the new media aspect,” he said. “Online is a great tool, and people rely on visuals, so I want to highlight that.”

Anderson’s first official day at the paper was Wednesday, and he says he can’t wait to get back into the groove of working for a small town newspaper again. “There are so many new opportunities and challenges, but I’m so thankful to be back and to be working in such a great community, with a great team,” he said. “I can’t wait to reconnect with old friends, meet new faces and continue with the excellence that the team here has already established.”