Jefferson Herald staff report
Brandon Hurley, who has earned two statewide Iowa Young Journalist of The Year honors and helped pen a popular book on a professional basketball coach with local ties, is the new editor of the Jefferson Herald.
Hurley, 32, has served as sports editor of the Herald since June 2016, a role he will continue. Former Herald owner and publisher Rick Morain and co-owner Douglas Burns join Hurley in producing regular content for the newspaper. The newspaper group has hired an additional writer who will participate in Jefferson coverage.
Hurley succeeds Andrew McGinn as editor.
“I’m excited to dive head first into my new role as editor of the Jefferson Herald,” Hurley said. “My five years as sports editor have helped me gain appreciation for the pulse of this community, a collective who clearly craves local news. I aim to keep all of our readers informed. I believe I have a voice of the people, never too brash for my own good, but willing to stand up for the little guy.”
Readers shouldn’t notice too drastic of a style change, Hurley said.
“Andy laid a fantastic foundation, one I plan to only help strengthen,” Hurley said. “Our goal at the Jefferson Herald has always been to stay hyper-local, while featuring stories that others may not pursue. I look forward to our future together. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.”
Burns, whose family operates the Carroll Times Herald and has owned the Jefferson Herald since 2012, said Hurley has proven himself as a talented and committed community journalist.
“For years Greene County student-athletes have been the beneficiaries of some of the best local sportswriting in any Iowa newspaper, thanks to Brandon’s hard work,” Burns said. “Brandon is innovative and enterprising and I enjoy working with him. He’s outstanding on social media, too, so look for Jefferson Herald content there.”
An Ames native who graduated from the University of Iowa with a double major in journalism and mass communications and sports studies, Hurley served as the sports editor for the Boone News Republican and as a general-assignment reporter for the Dickinson County News in Spirit Lake before coming to Jefferson. His parents, Jim and Lisa Hurley, reside in Ames.
In 2020, Little Brown, a major U.S. publisher, released “Rapture: Fifteen Teams, Four Countries, One NBA Championship, and How to Find a Win” — a book chronicling the rise of Carroll native Nick Nurse that Hurley researched and co-authored with Michael Sokolove.
“Brandon is a first-rate journalist with 39 Iowa Newspaper Association writing awards to his credit — an eye-popping haul,” Burns said. “His dogged work with the Nurse book, a passion project, is really one of the more impressive accomplishments I’ve seen from any of what have been talented stables of writers associated with the Carroll and Jefferson papers through the years.”
