By Nila Harris
BUTLER — Alex Valentine has always enjoyed reading and writing, so it came as no surprise that this 2011 Pendleton County High School graduate would major in English while attending Thomas More on a baseball scholarship.
But an internship at River City News (now Link NKY), “and it became crystal clear that journalism was what scratched the itch in my brain,” Valentine said.
He switched his major to communications. Since, Valentine has followed his journalism dream through three states before landing back in Kentucky to serve as the managing editor of the Lexington Herald Leader beginning July 15th.
While completing an internship in Covington, Valentine realized that during the tumultuous time of 2014 within the news industry, with people being laid off and newspapers closing, “I needed to be good. I needed a boot camp.”
This spawned the decision to attend Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, ranked No. 7 for top journalism schools according to scijournal.org.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in communications at Thomas More, Valentine finished his college education with a master’s in journalism from Northwestern.
Following graduation, he began his career in Twin Falls, Idaho, as a sportswriter for the Magic Valley Times-News. This combined his writing with his other love — sports.
Next stop on his journey was Davenport, Iowa, doing investigative stories, digging into local issues and records.
His last journalism travels led him to the city of the Gateway Arch — St. Louis — working for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. He started as night editor, receiving promotions to digital editor, then finally as public safety editor, writing about “cops, crimes, and court.”
Valentine has enjoyed the various journalistic roles he has held, which has given him “a taste of telling stories, how government works, how public safety works, why things are the way they are, getting in on the ground floor — this is the way it works and how it is.”
In his role as managing editor for the Herald Leader, Valentine will manage the day-to-day activities of news, sports and photos, and keep “the trains running and on time.”
He will oversee 30 people, edit stories and have more responsibilities than in his other jobs, which, he admitted, is both exciting yet terrifying.
He said he is extremely grateful and thrilled to be back in Kentucky. Valentine’s parents, Greg and Sharon of Butler, share his sentiment.
“Alex’s first job in Twin Falls was an all-day flight with a layover away, so we didn’t see them (Alex and his wife Amber) during that time. For him and Amber to now be just an hour or so away is an answered prayer, for sure,” Sharon said.
“Also, Alex has always been a devoted UK Basketball fan, and with the exciting changes in that program, this will be an especially fun time for him to live and work in Lexington.
“We really couldn’t be happier,” she said.