Veteran reporter joins Cherokeean Herald staff

Loyal Cherokeean Herald readers may have noticed a new, but familiar, name on featured articles in the paper recently.

Rusk resident and longtime news writer Cristin Parker has joined the Cherokeean Herald staff as a general news reporter and photographer.

“We are thrilled to welcome Cristin to the staff,” Herald editor Josie Fox said. “She’s got a great nose for news and features and strong ties to our community. I think she’ll be a fantastic addition to our crew.”

A RHS class of ‘95 alum, Parker graduated from Tyler Junior College in 2000, after earning a degree in mass communication. She’s worked in radio, television and for numerous area newspapers in her career.

“My first love will always be print journalism,” she said. “I’m delighted to be able to work for my hometown paper, finally!”

Having worked for a former daily paper in Cherokee County for numerous years, Parker’s no stranger to covering general news and human interest stories in and around Rusk. She also worked for or freelanced for newspapers around the area, including the Athens Daily Review, the Palestine Herald Press, the Grapeland Messenger, the Diboll Free Press, the Mexia News and the Teague Chronicle.

She even served, for a short time, as the city of Rusk’s public information officer.

In recent years, she been working at Flowers N Things flower shop in Rusk.

“I’ve been freelancing for the last few years, just to keep my hand in,” she said. “I’ll miss the flower shop definitely, but I’m also excited to get back into news writing full time and getting to join the Cherokeean Herald is just the icing on the cake.”

Parker’s first official day as part of the Cherokeean staff will be Monday, May 14.