SALISBURY — Josh Bergeron has been named editor of the Salisbury Post, effective Dec. 20.

Bergeron, managing editor of The State Journal in Frankfort, Ky., since October 2017, formerly worked at the Post as a reporter and associate editor.

Post Publisher Greg Anderson said he looks forward to working with Bergeron again.

“Josh has prepared himself well for this very important role in our community,” Anderson said.

Under Bergeron’s leadership, the State Journal launched well-received redesigns of its monthly community magazine and the newspaper, which publishes five days per week, and its web traffic grew by 30 percent. 

Top stories covered during his tenure include reform of the state’s pension system and the thousands of teachers and state employees who filled the streets of Frankfort as a result; the implosion of Frankfort’s tallest building, Capital Plaza Tower, which drew thousands of onlookers from across the state; an election that included a tight congressional race, ousted an incumbent sheriff and produced three new members of the four-person Frankfort City Commission, similar to a city council; and ongoing efforts to redevelop downtown.

Enterprise and investigative stories published by The State Journal under Bergeron’s tenure ranged from revealing that county jail’s chief deputy was dismissed over a sexual harassment complaint that resulted in a $14,000 investigation by third-party attorneys to showing that a local CEO would receive a $1.67 million payday as a result of the sale of a local bank to a West Virginia bank.

A 2013 graduate of Louisiana State University, Bergeron worked as a reporter at the Natchez Democrat in Mississippi and the Selma Times-Journal in Alabama before joining the Post in August 2014 to cover county government and politics. He was promoted to associate editor in early 2017.

Bergeron, 26, won several writing awards from the N.C. Press Association, including first-place awards in business writing, beat news reporting and city/county government reporting. He won other awards for his editorials, election/political reporting, news enterprise reporting, news feature writing and videos.

At the Post, he wrote a series of stories published in 2017 that described the financial details behind Fibrant. That series revealed that the city-owned fiber optic network appeared profitable on paper when it was not and that City Manager Lane Bailey, at the time of his hiring, believed Fibrant to be profitable, too. He also reported on a federal lawsuit about prayer at Rowan County commissioners meetings as well as questions about possible water contamination from coal ash ponds at Dukeville. 

Bergeron said he’s excited about the opportunity to lead the newsroom of the Salisbury Post and return to a community he wrote about extensively as a reporter. 

Bergeron succeeds Elizabeth Cook, who is retiring after 25 years as the Post’s editor.

“Because of Elizabeth, the Salisbury Post has been the best source of news and features for Rowan County and nearby communities for 25 years, and I’m energized by the opportunity to build on that foundation,” he said.

Cook expressed optimism about the Post’s future.

“Josh will do a great job,” she said. “He is a hard-charging journalist who knows how to dig out the truth. He’ll take the Post to a new level.”