Ware joins newsroom as Regional News Editor

     The Pioneer Enterprise has a new face in its newsroom. Serving as the Regional News Editor of The Pioneer Enterprise, as well as the Sheffield Press, is Caitlin Ware.

     Ware, 21, comes from Panora, where she was a news reporter for the Guthrie County Vedette, the Guthrie Center Times, Lake Panorama Times, Adair County Free-Press and the Fontanelle Observer.

     Originally from Newton, New Jersey, Ware graduated from Rowan University in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in journalism and a minor in psychology.

     Ware’s experience in journalism is extensive. She interned with Philadelphia Style Magazine, a respected fashion and lifestyle magazine in the Philadelphia Metro area, as well as with the South Jersey Times, southern New Jersey’s largest news organization. She worked as a freelance reporter for The Washington Township Times in New Jersey, and at Rowan University, Ware was involved with The Whit, the weekly campus newspaper where she was features editor her senior year.

     She is a decorated journalist, having won the New Jersey Collegiate Press Association’s second place award for layout and design, as well as Rowan University’s Claudia Cuddy Award for Excellence in Editing and Publishing.

     “Hiring someone with the skills and capabilities of Caitlin Ware is a coup for newspapers our size,” said Ryan Harvey, president and CEO of Mid-America Publishing Corporation. “We are truly excited to have her join the company. Her writing style is one our readers will enjoy. Her personality is one our community members will appreciate and her willingness to dig into issues to get to the bottom of them is one you expect.”

     Harvey added, “I believe she is an extremely capable journalist who will fill a key role here, and I couldn’t be happier to add her to the team.”

     Ware’s path to journalism was not a direct one. She liked writing in high school, but planned to attend college and study forensic science. She had received a scholarship to the University of New Haven, Connecticut, and was planning on accepting and attending, with intentions to enter its Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences.

     “To be honest, I’m not really sure how things shook out the way they did,” Ware said. “I had one last college to visit before making my final decision: Rowan University in New Jersey. And as soon as I stepped onto the campus, I fell in love. I knew it was where I wanted to go to school.”

     Unfortunately, Rowan did not have a forensic science program. In a frenzy to pick a new life plan, she fell back on her love of writing and thought a career in journalism would be the best way to use her skills.

     “I entered the journalism program and never looked back,” Ware said. “Here I am, four years later, and I’m still doing it, and loving it. So I must have done something right.”

     When it comes to journalism in small towns, Ware’s approach is to listen. If she has learned anything since moving to Iowa, it’s to get out, talk to people and hear what they have to say.

     “These towns still operate on word of mouth, like, ‘I heard it from so-and-so who said their uncle knows the guy who did it,’” Ware explained. “If you aren’t getting out there and mingling, you probably won’t have anything to write about.”

     As Regional News Editor, her hope is to cover the issues and stories that matter to the community.

     “I am happy to be here working within these communities, and I am excited to see what the future brings,” Ware said.