On Friday, long-time staff member of the Record-Herald, Ryan Carter, spent his last day as editor with his editorial staff.

Carter, who recently took a job as the new deputy director at the Fayette County Board of Elections, explained he has been in journalism for approximately 20 years. While he began at the Xenia Daily Gazette, a couple years after starting at the Gazette, he was given the opportunity to “come home to Fayette County at the Washington Court House Record-Herald.”

“Margaret Jones, who was the editor at the time, Jeff Pollard was the publisher, and then Gary Brock became the publisher after that,” said Carter. “They gave me a chance to get my feet wet. I jumped right in covering court cases, and I became their main reporter pretty much right away. I learned so much from them (and others along the way). You can talk about going to school for journalism, but actually experiencing it is the only way to become good at it.”

Carter worked his way up from reporter to assistant editor when Deb Gaskill was the editor and, finally, to editor.

“A wonderful part about this job is just the opportunity to meet new people — just a vast array of different people and listening to their stories. That’s really what journalism is about: listening to other people tell their stories. That’s just been a real pleasure, and that’s probably been the best part of the job — the relationships,” said Carter.

Carter explained he is particularly proud that in his last year, a Spectrum magazine was able to be put together that “gave a spotlight to what the year 2020 was really like and the people that had to put their lives on hold in order to respond to a pandemic like we’ve never seen before.”

Spectrum is an annual magazine that is a supplement to the Record-Herald. The 2021 Spectrum, “County reflects on pandemic, looks ahead,” was released on Thursday.

When asked if he has any regrets throughout his career in journalism, Carter said, “I don’t really have any regrets. I’ve always done things to the best of my ability. Sometimes your personal relationships get put on hold when you throw your life into a job like this 24/7, and sometimes it can feel like a 24/7 job, so you have to put things on the back burner. But I wouldn’t change anything. It’s been a very rewarding career.”

When asked what he will do with any spare time he gets while working at the Board of Elections, Carter said, “especially around election time, I won’t have much spare time. With any nights and weekends I have off, I’m going to spend more time with my girlfriend, my sister and her family, my dad, and friends. I used to be an avid reader. I’d like to start reading again more. There are a ton of movies and TV shows I could catch up on. I think I’m just ready for a new chapter in my life.”

For the time being, those who need to get in touch with the newsroom at the Record-Herald can contact one of the two reporters:

-Martin Graham: [email protected], 740-313-0351

-Jennifer Woods: [email protected], 740-313-0355

For sports-related content, contact Sports Editor Chris Hoppes at [email protected] or 740-313-0349.