Ogden Reporter welcomes new editor

There’s a new editor at the Ogden Reporter, Corinne Wetzel, and she has printer’s ink in her veins. A former wildland firefighter, Wetzel comes from a family of journal-ists. Her goal is to make a dif-ference in the community and share local news.

“I am excited to have Corinne Wetzel join the staff at the Ogden Reporter. Wet-zel brings to the table excellent writing and communication skills that will serve her well as editor,” said Pam DeVries, President of Mid-America Pub-lishing. “I know that she is looking forward to getting involved in the community and getting to know the readers of the Ogden Reporter.”

As Wetzel takes on her position as editor, she’s look-ing for readers’ suggestions to work toward making the Og-den Reporter the best paper it can be.

“We’re going to try to gain as much input as possible … on what would work for our paper,” Wetzel said.

Born and raised in Colora-do, Wetzel earned her Bache-lor’s degree in communication from the University of Wyo-ming. She worked her way through college as a wildland firefighter and public infor-mation officer for the Bureau of Land Management.

Working as a firefighter, every day on the job was dif-ferent—she never knew where she would end up. Often fires were in remote areas without trails or roads, and Wetzel enjoyed visiting places she would otherwise have never visited.

Although the majority of her time was spent fighting fires as an engine operator, as a public information officer, she also worked to make sure resi-dents in communities affected by wildfires had the infor-mation they needed. She host-ed community meetings, and helped those affected learn what was going on with their evacuated homes and the fire-fighting efforts.

Wetzel enjoyed her work as a firefighter and continued in the position after earning her degree, for a total of four years with the Bureau.

She moved to Iowa this October with her boyfriend, Joe Allen, who had taken a position in the area.

Wetzel enjoys spending time with Allen and their gold-en retriever Remy and lifting weights.

Writing is her lifelong pas-sion.

“My family has a history of journalism. I have family mem-bers who own a newspaper in Wyoming. My uncle is a sports reporter for Yahoo, and my grandpa owns a PR firm,” Wetzel said. “It’s in my blood.”

In college, she learned the intricacies of feature writing, public relations and business communications, and those skills came in handy as she worked as a public information officer.

“The more you practice writing, the easier it is,” Wet-zel said, “and you can get better and always build on it.”

As she begins serving as editor at the Ogden Reporter, she looks forward to meeting readers and working to help encourage community interest and involvement.

“I love how positive this community is. Everyone seems to be super happy, and it seems like a good place to live and raise kids,” Wetzel said. “People are invested in the community, in making it better and making it a special place to live. I’m really proud that I can be a part of that moving for-ward.”