Coupeville Sports

Ellen Hiatt

The newsroom at the Whidbey News-Times in the early 1990’s was full of future leaders.

Not me, who went from an underaged, rubber band-shooting Sports Editor to today’s blogger yelling at his computer enough to trouble the outside cats.

But everyone else.

Ellen Hiatt, then the Island Living Editor and the woman who shared a cubicle wall with a younger version of me, is the latest to rise to the statewide throne of power.

She’s currently settling into her new role as Executive Director of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, replacing Fred Obee, who held the position for 8+ years.

Obee, the man who shocked the world by promoting a 21-year-old David to WNT Sports Editor (then put up with his frequent in-print shenanigans), was Editor in Chief at the News-Times from 1983-1994.

Hiatt, who assigned me some of my first professional freelance stories (and then also put up with my shenanigans), began her career at the News-Times, eventually working there from 1989-1997.

After a long, diverse career, she now heads up the WNPA, the state’s leading advocate for “community newspapers, freedom of the press and open government.”

It’s dedicated to “helping members advance editorial excellence, financial viability, professional development, and a high standard of publication quality and community leadership.”