Changes are common in any job and in any business. Changes have been a big part of journalism during the past decade as shrinking budgets mean less staff. But positive changes are in store for the staffs of the Kirkland, Redmond and Bothell/Kenmore Reporter staffs.

One of the biggest changes is the naming of Carrie Rodriguez as the regional editor for the Kirkland and Bothell/Kenmore Reporter newspapers. Rodriguez has been the editor of the Kirkland Reporter for four years and has won numerous awards for her work as editor and as a reporter for the paper.

Rodriguez began her career with Sound Publishing in 2006 as a news clerk after graduating from the University of Washington with a bachelor’s degree in communications and a second degree in English.  She quickly moved on several months later to take a reporting position with the Bellevue Reporter, where she covered city news, schools, arts, business for several years.

She is currently on maternity leave and looks forward to assuming her new role as regional editor when she returns on Oct. 1.

Matt Phelps, currently the interim editor of the Kirkland Reporter newspaper, has been named assistant editor of the Bothell/Kenmore Reporter, a sister paper covering the northshore area.

Phelps began his career with Sound Publishing as the sports editor for the Whidbey News-Times in 2000 after graduating from the University of Washington. He spent eight years as sports editor with the Mercer Island Reporter, where he won numerous writing and design awards from the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. He joined the Kirkland Reporter staff in 2009.

Phelps succeeds Andy Nystrom, who has been named editor of the Redmond Reporter newspaper.

Joining the Kirkland Reporter staff is reporter Raechel Dawson, a 2012 graduate of the University of Washington. Dawson joined the Kirkland Reporter staff as a temporary reporter at the beginning of August and has accepted a full-time position with the paper.

Dawson covered the Washington State Legislature as an intern with WNPA’s Olympia Bureau, and her work has appeared in numerous newspapers and online news sites around the Puget Sound region. While at UW she served as secretary of the university’s SPJ chapter, and was a member of Phi Sigma Theta National Honor Society.

Dawson will work with Phelps and Kirkland Reporter editor Carrie Rodriguez in the Reporter newspapers’ Totem Lake office.

The appointments were announced by Josh O’Connor, Sound Publishing’s vice president for East Sound operations, with the promotions taking effect Sept. 4.

It is nice to be able to announce advancement within our ranks and we believe it shows how strong the Reporter Newspapers have become over the years.  We believe that these moves will not only strengthen the newsroom but also the news content that we bring to our readers.