Myrick elected Ky. Press Association Vice President

The Kentucky Press Association, which represents both print and digital newspapers across the commonwealth, announced Saturday, December 14, 2024, that Charles Myrick, publisher of The Mountain Advocate newspaper in Barbourville, Ky. was elected Vice President for the coming term, set to begin at the end of the association’s annual Winter Convention in January. Publishers across the state cast their ballot for Vice President in recent weeks.

Myrick served for three years on the KPA board of directors as a State At-Large member, and in 2023 served as Treasurer, before stepping away in January 2024 to focus on growing his hometown newspaper, The Mountain Advocate. Out of several individuals that qualified statewide to be nominated, two nominations were brought for a vote, with the other nominee being Keith Taylor, publisher of The Berea Citizen, a fellow Nolan Group Media newspaper. Taylor has also served on the KPA board for several years as the elected board member representing District 14, and is also the Sports Editor for Kentucky Today, the online-only newspaper owned and published by the Kentucky Baptist Convention.

Being elected Vice President is the first steppingstone to KPA presidency. Myrick will assume his role as Vice President on January 24, and will serve until January 2026, at which time he will move on to KPA President-Elect, and the following year, in January 2027, he will take the gavel as KPA President at the association’s “Changing of the Guard” luncheon at the Winter Convention.

By serving as Vice President, leading to the eventual presidency, Myrick will join the ranks of Mountain Advocate owners Jay Nolan (KPA President, 2019) and Glenn Gray (KPA President, 2023), as well as former Beattyville Enterprise editor Edmund Shelby (KPA President, 2009).

“To say I am shocked is an understatement,” said Myrick of his election. “I am honored and humbled that my fellow publishers across the state cast ballots for me to help lead the Kentucky Press Association over the next few years. 

“If you’d told me in 2003 when I came to work for the newspaper that I’d arrive at this point, I would’ve never believed you. However, I am thankful for the people who’ve poured into me over the years. From my early days under Cecil and Bob Wilson, to over a decade working with Jay Nolan and these past five years working with Glenn Gray, I’ve been exposed to not only generational wisdom but an aptitude for business that I never had before. Each responsibility I’ve had over my 21 years at the newspaper has brought me to this moment, and I am thankful for each experience. From the good to the not-so-good, every moment has helped shape who I am.

“I look forward to working with incoming KPA President Dennis Brown, a colleague and friend of several years now. He and I have had ideas for years now on ways to help our newspapers continue to evolve to not only survive, but thrive, in an increasingly digital world and I look forward to working with him to advance those initiatives.

“I want to thank my dear friend and Berea counterpart, Keith Taylor, on running this race with me. We talk often and share a lot of ideas with each other, and I look forward to continuing that deep friendship and camaraderie we have. We told each other early on that we supported each other, and we did, and we will continue to do so. KPA is blessed to have his passion and experience, and I am blessed to have him also as my friend.”  

In addition to Taylor, Nolan Group Media is also represented on the KPA board by Manchester Enterprise publisher Mark Hoskins, board member representing KPA’s 11th District, and Jessica Butler-Iacano, publisher of both the Beattyville Enterprise and Booneville Sentinel, representing District 10.

Charles and his wife, Ashley Rhea Jackson Myrick, a native of Clinton, Tenn., have four cats (Neffie, Jack, Razor and Mango) and two Golden Retrievers (Zuzu and Montana). He is the Elder of Worship for New Heights Church in Middlesboro, Kentucky.