Sauk Valley Media names editor

DIXON – Troy E. Taylor joins Sauk Valley Media as editor and will provide a weekend editing duties for Shaw Media’s other publications.

Taylor, 54, has three decades of industry experience, most at daily newspapers serving small towns. He recently was sports editor for the Star Courier in Kewanee.

He said he was drawn by the opportunity to serve the readers through Sauk Valley Media, publisher of the Telegraph and the Gazette.

“Providing daily journalism is both a challenge and a joy,” he said. “We have an obligation to chronicle the times, provide information important to the life of a community that connects you, as readers, with your neighbors.

“But it’s more than that. You are entrusting us to tell your stories and to share those accomplishments and tribulations; to be as fair, reliable and accurate as we can. At our best, we infuse our work with the enthusiasm we have for our craft.”

Taylor started Tuesday. Part of his orientation was a visit to the Telegraph Museum, which is a part of the Sauk Valley offices.

“Walking through the museum on Tuesday was a treasure,” he said. “It’s a potent reminder of the strong journalistic tradition that Shaw Media has, which we will strive to uphold.

Taylor is a 1987 graduate of Illinois Valley Community College and a 1989 graduate of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a bachelor’s degree in news-editorial journalism. While a student, Taylor was a correspondent for the Putnam County Record and the La Salle NewsTribune.

After graduation, he served as an assistant sports editor for the Mexico Ledger in Mexico, Missouri. He then became a sports editor for the Kerrville Daily Times in Kerrville, Texas. He spent two years as managing editor at the Dispatch in Cordele, Georgia. He was an assistant managing editor for nighttime production at the Morning News in Florence, South Carolina.

He returned to Illinois in 2000 and spent 18 years as a copy desk editor and page designer at the Journal Star in Peoria. The last two years he was at Kewanee.

He has served as judge for the Illinois High School Association’s state journalism state finals since they began in 2006.

Taylor lives in Granville. His wife, Paula, is a librarian with the Putnam County Library District. She is also attending IVCC, pursuing a degree in early childhood education. Their eldest, Carden, is in their final semester at SIU-C for a degree in field of criminal justice. Two sons, Preston and Jonathan, are students at Putnam County High School.