Tribune Staff Reports
An historic event occurred Thursday with the appointment of Julie McClure as editor of The Republic in Columbus.
McClure will be the first female to serve as the newspaper’s editor in its 147-year history.
The announcement was made by Republic publisher Bud Hunt and is effective Sunday. Hunt also is publisher of The Tribune. Both newspapers are part of AIM Media Indiana.
McClure joined the newspaper staff in December 2013 as assistant managing editor, supervising news coverage and doing in-depth enterprise reporting in Columbus and Bartholomew County.
In her new role, McClure will oversee all news operations of The Republic, including its website therepublic.com, which attracts roughly 3 million unique visitors per year.
“The newspaper’s website is arguably the most visited website in Bartholomew County,” Hunt said. “There are two things that drive that. One is obviously because content changes and it changes on the fly. We live in a 24/7 news cycle, and our news team does an outstanding job in responding, providing accurate, up-to-date information to our readers.”
McClure, a New Carlisle native, has spent her career working for Indiana newspapers. She began as a reporter and added editing duties at the Kokomo Tribune and was later an investigative reporter and features editor at the Lafayette Journal and Courier. Immediately prior to coming to Columbus, she was managing editor at the Michigan City News-Dispatch.
“Julie has a passion for telling the stories of our readers and our communities,” Hunt said. “Newspapers continue to play a vital role in the lives of our communities. Our print products are still strong and healthy even as we grow our presence in the digital world. Julie has a firm grasp of balancing those two worlds to deliver news to our readers. The Republic has a proud tradition of serving its community and is recognized as one of the best newspapers in the state. She is the ideal person to lead our news operation at this time.”
McClure said she is ready for her new role.
“I am deeply honored to follow in the footsteps of Republic editors Tom Jekel and Harry McCawley, who were so instrumental in the success of The Republic,” McClure said. “My commitment to our readers is to continue their legacy of outstanding news coverage, giving you the information you need every day, in print or online, when you need it. We are your community newspaper, and our team is working hard every day to bring you news about what is happening in your world. My hope is that you will reach out with story ideas, suggestions and feedback as this new journey begins. I am very grateful for this opportunity.”
McClure holds a bachelor of science degree in journalism from the University of Evansville. She has two daughters, Courtney with husband D.J., who have twins, Cole and Lucy, in Indianapolis; and Abby with husband Tyler, who live in West Lafayette.
She succeeds Jekel, who retired in December 2018 after a 45-year tenure in the newspaper industry.
The Republic was founded by Isaac T. Brown as The Columbus Republican, a weekly newspaper, in 1872. The first issue was published Thursday, April 4, 1872. It was acquired by AIM Media Indiana in November 2015, a subsidiary of AIM Media.