The “new” duo at the Valley Courier

By PRISCILLA WAGGONER, Courier Reporter

ALAMOSA — The saying “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks” may apply to a number of different circumstances, but the Valley Courier isn’t one of them. With a presence in the San Luis Valley that goes back more than a century, the Valley Courier is responding to the changing – and, yes, sometimes challenging – landscape in journalism and adapting to the times.

One such change was announced this week, and it has people excited about the possibilities up ahead.

Effective August 17, John Waters, who has been the Courier’s News Editor for most of the last three-plus years, took on a new role as Manager of Advertising, Marketing and Community Engagement.

Waters brings a background of experiences that make this the perfect transition for both him and the Courier.

As some may not know, prior to moving to the Valley, Waters spent twenty years as the owner of the Big Bend Gazette, a monthly publication that served the town of Alpine and surrounding region known as “Big Bend”  along the Texas-New Mexico border. Over the course of those two decades, Water learned – firsthand – two key things that make a newspaper successful:  how to provide readers with what they find interesting and advertisers with ad campaigns that work. 

“As a former owner of a newspaper for over 20 years where I was on both the editorial and business side of the business,” Waters says, “I look forward to transitioning from my current position at the Valley Courier as News Editor to Manager, Advertising, Marketing, and Community Engagement. I’ve developed many relationships throughout the San Luis Valley as editor and I’m excited to now serve the advertising and marketing needs.”

Since starting at the newspaper, Waters has believed the Courier has significant untapped potential which, he thinks, has only become stronger with recent changes.

“The Valley Courier is a broad-spectrum newspaper, covering areas others don’t cover – high school sports all across the Valley plus crime, the courts, police reports. And now, we’ve added local columnists.

“A few months ago,” he continues, “the Valley Courier added weekly sections in the Saturday editions, including Food and Drink, Health and Wellness, Western Living, and Business and Finance.  Plus we cover Arts and Entertainment every Wednesday.

“These sections have some really good, locally focused content and offer businesses excellent opportunities to showcase themselves to readers who are engaged. We also have our weekly San Luis Valley Journal that is delivered to all six counties.

“No one else can offer that same kind of coverage every single week, and I’m really looking forward to expanding relationships in the business community.”

Waters is also joined by the newest addition to the Valley Courier staff. 

Alonzo Herrera, already a name well known to many, is the Courier’s new sales associate and brings experience that a lot of people who are much older simply don’t have.

In addition to producing his own music, free lancing as a DJ and having a massive following on social media (he’s a very busy guy), Herrera’s background has been in radio sales, which he was successful at doing and enjoyed.

But he was looking to make a change. “When you sell radio advertising, you’re basically selling air time. And that’s great. It is. But I really like the idea of selling newspaper – especially print that a person can hold in their hands.”

Herrera has memories of growing up, watching his parents read the Courier every day and says it still is the place where people get their news. “I know sometimes radio stations will look at the Courier for news items and when most people want to know what’s happening, that’s where they go. I’m very excited to be a part of that.”

Herrera is a native of the San Luis Valley and, although he’s lived a number of different places, he is strongly motivated to help businesses in the area he called home for much of his life.

“My clients are very important to me and I want them to be seen and understood. Nobody likes to talk to a salesman and, even though I’ve done sales for a lot of my life, I never looked at myself that way. I’m not just there to take someone’s money. I’m there to support my clients in being vibrant and, like I said, being seen. I want to be part of making that legacy happen.”

When asked how he feels about the changes, Brian Williams, publisher of the Courier, says, “Excited to have John Waters move into his new role, leading the sales-marketing team and happy to bring Alonzo Herrera on board to bolster our sales efforts. I also want to thank outgoing Sales Director Gary Honodel for everything he did here!”

Yes, the Valley Courier is over a hundred years old but ask Herrera, Waters or Williams and they’ll agree the best is yet to come.