Missouri Press Association elects 2022 officers, directors
Publisher of the Shannon County Current Wave to succeed Liz Irwin
Roger Dillon, publisher of the Shannon County Current Wave, Eminence, was elected president of the Missouri Press Association Friday, Sept. 24, during the 155th Annual MPA Convention in Excelsior Springs.
A Missouri native from St. Joseph, Dillon graduated from Missouri University with a Bachelor of Journalism degree in 1973 and returned to take photojournalism graduate classes after a brief career in broadcast journalism as a disc jockey at the Lake of the Ozarks and Sedalia.
He returned to Lake of the Ozarks, where he developed his love of newspapers, working as reporter, photographer and editor of the Lake Sun. After a stint as editor of the Northeast News in Houston, TX, he came back to the Show Me State and the Ozarks to assume ownership of the Current Wave in 1984.
Dillon says his favorite part about newspapers is being entrenched in the community you serve. He also wants to work to dispel the myth that newspapers are “dead” while ensuring the industry can maintain its traditional credibility.
And if you get the chance to talk with him, Dillon has more than a few anecdotes to share from his career, including how he was the last caretaker and private resident of Ha Ha Tonka State Park, at Lake of the Ozarks.
Dillon will succeed Liz Irwin, publisher for Missouri Lawyers Media, St. Louis, as MPA president Jan. 1. Irwin will continue on the MPA Board of Directors through 2022 as immediate past president.
Other 2022 MPA officers and directors elected Sept. 24, including: First Vice President, Beth Durreman, Perry County Republic-Monitor, Perryville; Second Vice President, Amos Bridges, Springfield News-Leader; Secretary, Marion Jordon, Sr., The Kansas City Globe; and Treasurer, Bryan Chester, Columbia Missourian.
Directors for a one-year term are: Tim Schmidt, Montgomery Standard, Montgomery City; and Lucas Presson, Southeast Missourian, Cape Girardeau.
Directors for three-year terms are: Gary Castor, Jefferson City News Tribune; Bryan Jones, Versailles Leader-Statesman; and Kevin Jones, St. Louis American.
Peggy Scott, Jefferson County Leader, Festus, will continue as the National Newspaper Association state chair.
Continuing on the MPA Board in 2022 will be directors: Hannah Spaar, The Odessan, Odessa; Donna Bischoff, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; and Sandy Nelson, Courier Tribune, Liberty.
Retiring from the MPA Board in December 2021 is Trevor Vernon, The Advertiser, Eldon.
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