Press gets new look, new editor
EL CENTRO — Imperial Valley Press is finishing out this month with both a fresh look and a new chief of its editorial department.
Publisher Belinda Mills announced to the newspaper staff Friday that Managing Editor Mario Renteria is leaving Imperial Valley Press effective March 16. His duties are being assumed by Tom Bodus, who has been serving the past four years as an advertising account executive for the Press. Renteria got his start with Imperial Valley Press as an editorial clerk in 2000. Through the following years, he worked his way up to reporter and sports editor before being promoted to managing editor in 2015.
“After 18 exciting years at the Imperial Valley Press, I decided it’s time to venture into a new course.” Renteria said. “I look forward to what the future holds for me, and I leave knowing the newspaper is in the right hands.”
“Mario will be missed,” Mills observed. “We appreciate and thank him for his years of dedication and service, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors.”
She added: “Although we are saddened by Mario’s departure, I am happy to say that he is turning over the reins to a most qualified and capable ‘one of our own,’ Tom Bodus. Tom has a very strong journalism education and vast experience as a writer and editor.”
Bodus is a native of St. Louis and holds a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
He moved to El Centro in November 2013 and has worked for the Press since February 2014.
His experience as an editor includes PORK, a national agricultural magazine now published by Farm Journal Media; the Grand Traverse Business Journal, a former business news publication in Traverse City, Mich.; Information Entrepreneur, a national publication on using various media to market intellectual property; and Small Press magazine, a national trade magazine for book publishers.
“We are no longer going to let this seasoned editor hide in our advertising department,” Mills said. Bodus’ appointment as editor is coincidental to a complete redesign of Imperial Valley Press, which is being launched with today’s edition.
Mills said the impetus behind the newspaper’s new look is to expand its appeal for contemporary readers. The redesign will place more emphasis on local content and photographs, while shoring up coverage in special-interest areas such as business, agriculture and health. A new Arts & Entertainment section makes its debut today on page B5.
“We are very excited to bring a new face and flavor to the Imperial Valley Press,” Mills said. “With this change is a renewed commitment to the people of Imperial Valley to be the best source for local news.”
She added: “If you were to pick up a copy of the Imperial Valley Press from 1901, you’d find very little resemblance to 2018. We in the media are always looking to improve, especially in today’s highly competitive, high-speed world of information. We cannot afford to slip into the old, ‘We’ve always done it that way’ mentality. It is time for change. Our readers deserve the very best, and we have been working diligently to assess how to improve our newspaper in content as well as the overall aesthetics.”