COLUMBIA — Barbara Ball, owner and publisher of The Voice of Blythewood and Fairfield County, has been elected president of the S.C. Press Association after a vote of the Press Association’s membership during its annual meeting March 5-6, at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center. The meeting was attended by more than 200 journalists from across the state.
She succeeds Hal Welch, editor and publisher of The Journal in Seneca.
Ball began her newspaper career at age 6, tagging along with her brother as he delivered the Wichita Falls Times in her rural hometown in Texas. She started her first newspaper in 1999, sold it in 2005, started The Voice of Blythewood in 2010 and The Voice of Fairfield County in 2012. The Voice was honored to be invited to serve as a partner on The Post and Courier’s Uncovered team in 2023.
Ball and her newspapers have won a number of Press Association awards over the years including the Montgomery FOI Award, the Jay Bender Assertive Journalism Award and the Jim Davenport Award for Excellence in Government Reporting.
“It is truly an honor to be named president of the South Carolina Press Association,” Ball said. “I’ve been a member of the Press Association for 25 years, so I’m keenly aware of what it does for its members at all levels. It educates and informs us, encourages us, stands up for us and showcases our work.
“I’m looking forward to working with our extraordinarily capable Association leaders as well as serving with the leaders of our newspapers from across the state as we all strive to do our best to deliver the news that matters to our communities,” she said.
Other officers elected were: Kyle Osteen, managing partner and co-owner of Osteen Publishing Co., which publishes The Sumter Item, as daily newspaper vice president; Jonathan Vickery, publisher and editor of The People-Sentinel in Barnwell, as weekly newspaper vice president; and John Boyette, executive editor of the Aiken Standard, as treasurer.
Elected to two-year terms on the SCPA Executive Committee were: Mundy Price, president, publisher and editor of the Index-Journal in Greenwood, and Leisa Richardson, executive editor of the Greenville News, Herald-Journal and Independent Mail. Cris Temples, associate publisher of Charleston City Paper, was elected to a one-year term.
Re-elected to continuing terms on the SCPA Executive Committee were: Jason Cato, managing editor of The Post and Courier in Charleston; Ryan Gilchrest, managing editor of Greenville Journal; and Rocky Nimmons, publisher of the Pickens County Courier.
The meeting was attended by more than 200 journalists from across the state.
The press association was founded in 1852 and serves more than 100 S.C. newspapers and digital news organizations.