By Reporter staff

Diana Sochor, The Reporter’s longtime layout editor, has been appointed executive editor of the paper by The Reporter’s Editorial Committee. A longtime Vestal resident, Sochor grew up in Downsville, NY, and graduated from Wells College with a B.A. in English in 1993. Her family was a member of the Jewish Community Center for years while her daughter attended the ECC, Kids Connection and Camp JCC.
Previously, she had worked at The Walton Reporter as its staff proofreader, a columnist and a reporter. She began her tenure at The Reporter in May 1996, when then Executive Editor Marc Goldberg hired her as the editorial assistant, promoting her to assistant editor in June 1999. In 2001, she was promoted to layout editor by then Executive Editor Judith Huober, a position she has held, with increasing responsibilities, through Executive Editors Rebecca Goldstein Kahn, Andy Gross and Rabbi Rachel Esserman. She became interim executive editor when Esserman retired.
“Diana is the heart and soul of The Reporter,” said Federation Executive Director Shelley Hubal. “Her commitment to the paper and its professional standards over the last nearly 30 years has been outstanding. We are pleased that she will be stepping up as executive editor and helping our community stay connected and vibrant in the coming years. Thank you, Diana.”
Sochor’s responsibilities over the years have grown to include administrative responsibilities; working with the paper’s longtime volunteer proofreaders; editing local and national news articles; writing occasional local news articles; working with the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania staff to publish its monthly community newspaper; maintaining the master publication schedule for both papers; keeping track of articles/photos for both newspapers; full responsibility for the layout of the newspapers; soliciting information for the bar/bat mitzvah, wedding and family living sections, as well as the annual Community Guide; assisting the advertising representative as needed, including writing advertisers’ write-ups for certain ad sections; liaising with the printer and the Post Office; helping readers and organization representatives, as well as the liaison of the Scranton newspaper, with questions they may have; mailing the three subscription drive letters; and working with The Reporter’s production associate to process photos for publication in the papers, create/update existing ads and process camera-ready ads for publication in the papers.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with and learning from five of the best, dedicated, community-minded executive editors in my nearly 30 years here at The Reporter, and am honored that I am being entrusted to ensure our Jewish community has a one-stop local news source,” Sochor said. “I truly believe having a printed community newspaper is important to ensure all community members can stay connected and involved. Like many other newspapers, we’ve had financial difficulties for a number of years. The Reporter is now a monthly publication to help mitigate those difficulties, and our small, part-time staff is committed to continue keeping the community informed and connected.”