Jeff Forward joins The Woodlands Villager as editor
The Woodlands Villager has expanded its news team and named a new editor.
Jeff Forward, 48, joins the Villager, leading a team of three journalists based at the Villager’s office on Research Forest Drive.
Forward was born in Columbus, Ohio, and spent most of his life in central Ohio. He has been fascinated by the news and being informed since a young age.
“I always read the newspaper when I was a kid. Our hometown paper was the Columbus Dispatch and so we received it every morning,” Forward said. “The first thing I would do when I came downstairs was go out and get the paper and read it.”
In late high school and his first year in college he began writing letters to the editor of his local newspaper and several were published. When Forward returned to university after a four-year break, he decided to major in journalism and got involved with the student newspaper. He graduated from The Ohio State University in 1997 and accepted his first professional position as a reporter in Marysville, Calif.
Forward has worked as a reporter and editor in six states—California, Indiana, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.
The opportunity to live in The Woodlands and work with editors and reporters and work at the Houston Community Newspapers and the Houston Chronicle attracted him to the position.
“I think there’s just an amazing opportunity here to cover great news but also importantly, I think, to work with really amazing journalists,” Forward said. “There’s a lot going on here, and I like the lifestyle.”
Forward said he plans to continue collaborating with other HCN papers, including the Courier of Montgomery County and Houston Chronicle. He works regularly with Andrew DuBois, the Courier’s publisher and editor.
On the personal side, Forward is a sports and outdoors fan. He has been a lifelong soccer player and was a professional soccer referee for 13 years and a youth soccer coach.
Readers or residents with news tips can contact Forward via email: jeff. forward@chron.com or by telephoning him in the newsroom: 713-362-4421.