New faces at EastIdahoNews.com - East Idaho News
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New faces at EastIdahoNews.com

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Since our launch in July, EastIdahoNews.com has seen some astonishing growth — far exceeding our initial expectations.

Keeping pace with the growth has been a challenge, but it has also been a very rewarding experience.

We have brought our readers and viewers some amazing, uplifting stories, but also some tragic ones. In every case, we’re tremendously grateful for the support of east Idaho’s communities for reading and watching our work.

When we launched, we had only two journalists: Nate Eaton, who has experience in TV, and me, with experience in print. Our goal has always been to take the benefits of two media that traditionally have been different, and mesh them into an online product. 

There is still a lot to figure out, but we are moving forward — and now it isn’t just the two of us. EastIdahoNews.com is pleased to announce the addition of several new staffers:


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Natalia Hepworth:

Natalia Hepworth, a recent BYU-Idaho communication graduate, is a longtime resident of eastern Idaho. She grew up in Rexburg and graduated from Madison High School.

She was hired by EastIdahoNews.com as a full-time video journalist with an emphasis on the upper valley. She’s already covered some two dozens stories for us, including some in-depth reporting on the Fremont County deputy who was hit by a car.

“I love the homegrown, small-town feel of east Idaho — it’s a place where I know all my neighbors and they know me,” she said. “I hope I can be like a breath of fresh air, and bring a different news style and new energy to EastIdahoNews.com and to east Idaho.”


Prior to working at EastIdahoNews.com, Hepworth interned at Rich Broadcasting. 




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Robert Patten:

Robert Patten and I have a long history in east Idaho’s news. We went to college together, and he helped me get my first newspaper job at the Standard Journal in Rexburg. So I was very pleased to be able to welcome him on as a full-time member of our web development staff. 


Patten is something of a jack-of-all-trades. He’s got an English degree from BYU-Idaho, but also has nearly finished a degree in computer programming. His background gives him the experience necessary to both maintain our website and frequently assist in editing content.

“It used to be you that you were a creative or a technical person,” Patten said. “But now — especially in journalism — you need to have skills from both sides. To stay relevant in journalism, you have to know how to tell a story and code it and to be willing to learn new things.” 



Prior to working from EastIdahoNews.com, Patten was the digital content director at Local News 8 in Idaho Falls, and before that the senior editor at the Standard Journal.


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Tony Potter:

Tony Potter is also a Standard Journal alumnus, and he comes to EastIdahoNews.com after working as an English professor at BYU-Idaho.

Potter works for EastIdahoNews.com as a part-time columns editor. He focuses on the development of opinion and feature columnists. He also is our resident outdoor/survivalist columnist, writing about his humorous adventures in the wild.

Potter has a graduate degree in creative writing. He’s also a former film critic and newspaper features editor.


Mike Moran

Mike Moran:

Mike Moran joined us several months ago as an intern from BYU-Idaho. Recently, we hired him as a part-time data journalist and web analytics expert.

At EastIdahoNews.com, his focus is on crunching our web numbers to help us analyze our audience. But he also compiles information to tell unique, data-driven stories suited for the Internet. He recently published an article on Idaho gas prices.

“Numbers are the backbone of everything we do,” Moran said. “We learn about people from numbers, and this allows us to market to them, write for them and to get to know them better.”

Moran is a semester away from graduating with a degree in communication at BYU-Idaho.


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Ronda Hobbs and Kevin Hansen:

Additionally, EastIdahoNews.com welcomes Ronda Hobbs and Kevin Hansen as part of the Digital sales team.

Both of these east Idaho natives will be working with local businesses to help you advertise or promote your business at EastIdahoNews.com.

We are thrilled to have them as part of our team.


Besides the new employees, EastIdahoNews.com continues to be supported by a plethora of freelance contributors and columnists.

Writers/photographers Stephan Rockefeller, Shel Williams, Bill Schiess, Paul Menser, Adam Forsgren, Ryndon Ricks, Tami Hymas and Emmilie Whitlock have all contributed to our success. Dylan Carder and Mark Richardson with KEIR 101.1 FM also are a great support.

Cory McHugh, with Digital, keeps the site online and is tirelessly working on updates to the site.

Finally, EastIdahoNews.com is supported by news and updates from many local media companies and partners. We appreciate their support both on- and off-the-air.

Find out more about our staff here.

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