The Beaumont Enterprise is bringing aboard a new staff member.
Matt Hollinshead will serve as the outlet’s new assistant editor, supporting editor Kaitlin Bain.
Hollinshead is not only a new face to The Enterprise, but to Beaumont as well.
However, he’s spent his entire career in the Southwest. He spent the previous year working at the Rio Rancho Observer in New Mexico, covering business, Sandoval County and other general assignments.
This will be the first managerial position for Hollinshead, who spent the majority of his career as a sports reporter before transitioning into business reporting in 2020 after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Hollinshead started his career at The Kingman Daily Miner in Kingman, Arizona, then moved to publications in New Mexico — the Carlsbad Current-Argus, Farmington Daily Times and Rio Rancher Observer. He spent more than eight years in New Mexico before arriving in Beaumont.
A Colorado native and 2013 graduate of Metropolitan State University of Denver, Hollinshead was drawn to journalism because he struggled to communicate with people as a child.
“I knew internally I wanted some kind of avenue to improve on talking to people, being able to deal with different personalities, resolve conflict and so forth,” he said.
Hollinshead said journalism helped his personal development.
“Just being able to get out there and be in a situation where I had to be able to talk to people, I think it did me a lot of good to choose that as my particular career,” he said.
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Transitioning from sports to business helped him become a more well-rounded journalist.
Hollinshead was drawn to The Enterprise by its newsroom culture, he said.
“I liked the fact that it was a younger newsroom and it was my chance to get some much needed leadership management experience and for the short term, being able to work with a young group of, frankly, dogged, determined reporters,” he said. “It seems like Kaitlin and I, we both kind of share a similar vision for how a newsroom should operate.”
The Enterprise’s reputation in Texas journalism also drew him to the publication, and he said he’s excited by the opportunities the job could provide him in the future.
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“I want us to be able to talk to each other, really be able to communicate, be more of that collaborative environment. I really feel that’s part of what an editor should do,” he said.
Community journalism is absolutely paramount to the region, Hollinshead said.
He said it’s the responsibility of a media organization to inform residents here, break down why a topic matters and what it means for them now or in the future.
While Hollinshead is new to Southeast Texas, he said that doesn’t mean he isn’t paying attention to what’s going on in the area.
“I’m here for a reason — to be a part of highlighting the things that need to be addressed in this community, the things that do, in fact, need to change,” he said. “Even if it may take me a bit of time to get acclimated to the area and get to know all of the players, so to speak, to tell the story the way it should be told to the best of our ability as a media organization.”
Hollinshead said he’s ready to work to earn the trust of the community and tell the stories that matter.
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“I want to be able to cover stories that could help propel Beaumont forward,” he said. “I want to be able to highlight stories that reinforce ‘this is why person A could absolutely call Beaumont, Texas home.’ I want to be able to highlight just because someone may not have ever heard of Beaumont, Texas, (that) doesn’t mean you should avoid it at all costs.”
Hollinshead said he’s been impressed with how mellow Beaumont residents are.
“I get the sense it’s a very warm, pleasant place,” he said.
Hollinshead can be reached via email at [email protected] or at 409-838-2849.
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