Eagle Times Staff
CLAREMONT, N.H. — Stephen Cheslik has joined the Eagle Times as managing editor.
“I kind of stumbled into newspapers,” Cheslik said. “One of my first friends in college was writing for the college paper and he convinced me it would be a fun thing to try.
“He ended up in PR,” Cheslik said. “I’ve chased being a journalist around the nation.”
Cheslik has worked at newspapers in Georgia, New York, Wyoming, Washington and in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Before joining the Eagle Times, he was the design and presentation director of The Buffalo News, one of the 25 largest papers in the nation.
Along the way, he has picked up statewide awards from press associations in Georgia, New York and Wyoming, and national awards from the Society for News Design, Scripps Howard Foundation and Associated Press Media Editors.
Born in Burlington, Vt., Cheslik spent his childhood in New York’s Adirondacks.
“The job in Claremont came up at the perfect time,” Cheslik said. “I had another offer on the table, but the opportunity to join a newspaper that truly believes in community-first journalism was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up.”
The Eagle Times is the second paper Cheslik has been managing editor of. He previously spent 14 years in the Caribbean working for The Virgin Islands Daily News, ultimately as managing editor.
“I bought my first house on St. Thomas, I thought this was it, this is my final job,” he said.
That dream turned out to be short lived as only a year after purchasing the home it was destroyed by Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded and one of two Category 5 hurricanes to hit the island in two weeks.
After the storm and the COVID-19 pandemic, Cheslik decided it was time to say goodbye to the Caribbean and move closer to home. Claremont is just a two-hour drive from his hometown of Ticonderoga, N.Y.
“Newspapers make our communities better,” Cheslik said. “When we lose a newspaper, we lose something that helps our community stick together. We lose a tool that keeps our government officials honest and a little bit of hometown pride.”
“In the Virgin Islands, we won national awards for reporting on corrupt public officials, but we also knew that Carnival, a month-long celebration of island culture, was just as important. A spelling bee winner is just as deserving of the front page as the governor just caught in a lie.
“That’s what community newspapers should be about. Celebrating our kids, celebrating our successes and keeping a watchful eye on our leaders. And, if they do good, we’ll celebrate them too,” Cheslik said.
Cheslik, and his old English sheepdog, Emmie, now live in Sunapee.
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