A new editor is leading the Walla Walla Union-Bulletin newsroom.

Tony Balandran started as editor Nov. 7.

Most recently the night editor of the Boulder Daily Camera in Colorado, Balandran brings 33 years of journalism experience to the U-B.

He also served as the city editor of the Victoria Advocate in Texas and as Northland bureau chief and assistant night editor of the Kansas City Star.

Now, for the first time in his career, Balandran finds himself leading a newsroom.

“I have done this job, piecemeal, over 33 years,” Balandran said. “I have done outreach, I have managed reporters, I’ve coached them, edited stories. I’ve done a lot of things. I just saw this job as bringing all those elements together. It was the right place and right time for me to take the next step in my career.”

Greg Halling, senior news director for The Seattle Times affiliate newspapers, said Balandran brings a mix of knowledge and experience to the newsroom.

“When we set out to find a new editor for the Union-Bulletin, we wanted an experienced journalist, an accomplished leader and a gifted teacher,” Halling said. “In Tony, we got all three. He’s going to build on the talent in this newsroom and together, they’re going to do compelling journalism that makes this a stronger community.”

Local news is important to Balandran, and becoming part of the community is a must, he said.

“Community journalism is sort of where the rubber meets the road, so to speak,” Balandran said. “We have to embed ourselves in the community thoroughly to make sure we can tell stories from the perspective of area residents. We can’t be community journalists unless we know our community very well.”

Balandran, a first-generation college graduate and second-generation Mexican American, has a journalism degree from the University of Kansas.

Balandran, whom Halling believes is the U-B’s first Latino editor, succeeds Dian Ver Valen — the paper’s first female editor — who left the U-B in September to become the business operations director of the Blue Mountain Humane Society.

Ver Valen led the U-B starting in 2020 and guided the paper through the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We’re grateful for Dian’s hard work and dedication as editor of the Union-Bulletin,” Halling said. “She was a fine journalist.”