J. TODD FOSTER: Herald Courier Sports Section Under New Management

By J. Todd Foster
Editor / Bristol Herald Courier
Published: August 9, 2008

One of the most difficult and time-consuming duties any editor has is hiring. Yet all too often, editors take shortcuts because getting a warm body into a vacant position is expedient. It solves staff shortages and is the path of least resistance.

My view is that pouring a ton of time into journalist searches is much more efficient than dealing with personnel issues later, or having to refill positions when bad hires flame out.

It’s taken several months to find the right kind of editor to lead this newspaper’s talented sports staff. I am confident that the effort was worth every minute with the hiring of Jim Cnockaert, who officially joined us Saturday.

Cnockaert (pronounced Knock-art), 53, has toiled in the vineyards of journalism for 31 years. He has previous sports editing stints at The King County Journal in Kent, Wash., outside Seattle; The Bozeman Daily Chronicle in Montana; and The Port Huron Times Herald in Michigan.

But Cnockaert is most known for his longtime coverage of the University of Michigan for The Ann Arbor News. He covered the Wolverines’ national football championship in 1997 and the Fab Five freshmen who carried the men’s basketball team to the national finals in 1992. Cnockaert also covered the NCAA’s investigation of a basketball booster scandal at the University of Michigan.

In 1992, as the Wolverines were nearing a date with Duke for the national championship, Cnockaert dropped by his bank to deposit a paycheck before heading to Minneapolis for the Final Four. The teller was a stranger but recognized his name on the paycheck. She looked Cnockaert hard in the eye and said, “You know, there are 30,000 people in this town who would kill to have your job right now.”

Cnockaert says that moment, which is never far from his memory, reinforces the importance of what he does.

“I keep that moment in the back of my mind, for a couple of reasons,” he says. “One, it reminds me how lucky I am to do the job I do. For instance, a whole bunch of folks will be at Bristol Motor Speedway in a couple of weeks, but few of them will get the chance to experience the event up close as a journalist does. That is a privilege, and I never take it for granted. Too, I try to write every story and put out every section with sports fans in mind. That’s because I’m a sports fan, too, and I want the Herald Courier to publish the kinds of stories that I want to read. But I also want to write and publish stories that appeal to a broader reader- ship, one that appreciates a good story because it’s a good story.”

Cnockaert, who has authored two books on University of Michigan football, has the kind of credentials few sports editors can boast. He has won state journalism awards in Michigan, Montana and Washington and, in 1987, won first place for enterprise reporting in the Associated Press Sports Editors competition – the pantheon of sports journalism. Cnockaert’s sports sections have won national APSE awards as well.

“I want the Herald Courier to cover local sports as they have never been covered before,” says the Michigan native, a father of three grown children and husband to journalist Christine Uthoff. “I want our section to be informative and to tell compelling stories. I want our readers to check out the sports section every day because they want to find out what we’re up to and because we’ll sprinkle in some surprises along the way.

“I bring a lot of years and experiences as a sports journalist to Bristol,” Cnockaert says. “Why come here? Because I have the chance to work with a quality sports staff. It’s one with ability and potential. Maybe even more important, the staff shares my passion for good journalism. They want a great sports section. So do I. I could not be more excited about getting started.”

Among the talented staff that Cnockaert inherits is a newcomer here. So I’ll take this moment to introduce him as well.

Spencer Campbell, 26, a Texas native who grew up just outside Dallas, joined us as a sports writer a few weeks ago. He currently covers the Bristol White Sox and this fall will be covering high school football, specifically the Lonesome Pine and Black Diamond districts. He also will cover King and Virginia Intermont colleges.

Campbell just completed the coursework for a master’s degree at the University of North Texas and trained under narrative-writing guru and writer-in-residence George Getschow, who spent 18 years at The Wall Street Journal.

Campbell earned a 2007-08 scholarship from the University of North Texas Mayborn Institute of Journalism and was runner-up in 2007 for the nonfiction prize for literary excellence from the Mayborn Literary Nonfiction Writers Conference of the Southwest. He has freelanced for the Dallas Morning News and in May had a story on that paper’s front page. He did an internship with Avid Golfer magazine and was a Web reporter and print intern for the Dallas Observer alternative newspaper.

“I can’t say enough good things about this kid,” says Getschow, a Pulitzer finalist. “This is a young writer whose writing really belies his years. You made a great call hiring him.”

Finally, there is one more bit of news to report on our sports staff. Writer Brian T. Smith, whose December series “ETSU’s fall from football” was a national APSE finalist, has been promoted to assistant sports editor. He will focus on reporting and writing but also will help the new sports editor in the coming months in our efforts to reach out to all the high schools and sports programs we cover.

Our aim is better relations with some schools that in the past have perceived slights in coverage or snubs from staff members. This is a clean slate. To all you area coaches, please meet us halfway.

J. Todd Foster is managing editor of the Bristol Herald Courier. He may be reached at or (276) 645-2513.