I have been in the newspaper business for more than 20 years, starting as a part-time sports writer for the Du Quoin Evening Call in September of 1987. Since then I became the Call's sports editor and the managing editor of the Marion Daily Republican in 1998. I left the MDR for 21 months in February of 2002, but returned in December of 2003 to become the editor and then managing editor again. I was named publisher on May 2, 2006.After becoming a victim of corporate budget reductions in April of 2011, I launched my own news Web site, Dateline Marion, in July of 2011. Dateline Marion is a community online news source that covers Marion, Illinois.On July 14, 2014, my media career came full circle. While maintaining my Web site, I returned to my roots and became the news director for Southern Illinois Radio Group, compiling and anchoring newscasts on Real Country 1230 WHCO Radio in Sparta and Cool 93-5 and 1420 WINI in Murphysboro.In May of 2016, with the help of four people who share a similar passion to me, I launched the 501(c)(3) non-profit Equipping Haiti, designed to help reach out to the people of Haiti to help them overcome issues with extreme poverty and unemployment. More on Equipping Haiti can be found at www.equippinghaiti.org.