Story by JEFFREY CONTAC, for The Muleskinner—
Warrensburg’s online community news site, digitalBURG.com, has a new editor.
Lester Adams, 31, of Windsor, was recently named to the website’s top job. The site is the Warrensburg community news service of the Muleskinner.
Adams is a biology major at UCM, but the newspaper business runs in the family. His father purchased a local newspaper when Adams was 14.
Adams said he enjoyed watching the printing press churn out thousands of papers an hour. He said his interest for speaking and writing developed during his high school freshman debate class in Wellsville, Kan.
“I liked the public speaking aspect, but all the research and math made it more well-rounded and enjoyable,” Adams said.
Matt Bird-Meyer, Muleskinner adviser, had Adams in a public speaking class and was impressed with Adams’ work.
“I was immediately impressed by his character, his organization skills, and his intellect,” Bird-Meyer said. “He shined right from the beginning.”
Adams was hired as circulation manager and Bird-Meyer later appointed him to the UCM Student Publications Board before he was named digitalBURG editor.
Adams stays busy juggling his biology schoolwork and now his online reporting and editing duties. He is an avid snake and frog collector. He has a 5-foot-long red tailed boa constrictor, Saint, named for his cross-shaped marking on his forehead. He also has two dogs, Thor and Shyla.
At digitalBURG, Adams assigns and edits stories, selects wire copy to post online and does some reporting.
Adams said it is important for editors and reporters to pay attention to detail.
“You can sit in class all semester and retain what you’re told, but it’s the critical details that really make a story glisten,” he said. “Next is motivation, then it’s all practice and repetition.”
Adams hopes to find a job after graduating that incorporates his love for nature and journalism, such as wildlife reporting.