CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Longtime journalist Brad McElhinny, the West Virginia Press Association’s top columnist for three years running, is joining MetroNews as its statewide correspondent.
McElhinny, 44, most recently served as co-editor of The Charleston Gazette-Mail after working as editor and publisher of The Charleston Daily Mail.
The newly created role means McElhinny will deliver deep-dive stories about West Virginia issues—including governance, economics and education—for WVMetroNews.com. McElhinny also will edit for the site, produce opinion pieces and appear on MetroNews shows such as Hoppy Kercheval’s “Talkline.”
“As a reporter for The Charleston Daily Mail for a decade, it was my role to make sure the newspaper had a unique story from me for page 1 every day,” McElhinny said. “My stories were meant to set us apart from the competition and to give the Daily Mail a distinct voice. In recent years as an editor, I helped reporters shape stories meant to make an impact. That background fits perfectly with what MetroNews seeks to do over the upcoming years.”
“Working with outstanding current staff such as Hoppy Kercheval, Jeff Jenkins, Tony Caridi, Allan Taylor, Shauna Johnson, Chris Lawrence and more talent at MetroNews, there should be no limit to what we can achieve online.”
The Parkersburg native spent more than 20 years at the Daily Mail, first as a reporter and then in a succession of leadership roles, including managing editor and city editor. One of his responsibilities that continued with the consolidated Gazette-Mail was oversight of the Daily Mail editorial page. McElhinny received best columnist awards in 2014, 2015 and 2016 from the state press association.
McElhinny also was part of a Daily Mail leadership team that consistently took home top honors in the press association’s Better Newspaper Contest. Under his guidance, Daily Mail staffers were regularly honored by the newspaper company Digital First Media for innovative approaches to journalism.
“We are thrilled with the addition of Brad,” said Kercheval. “His experience and skills uniquely qualify him to report on the most significant stories in our state for MetroNews.”
A 1994 graduate of Marshall University’s W. Page Pitt School of Journalism, McElhinny lives in Charleston with his wife, Karen, a local attorney, and children Isabelle and Kate.