My Turn: The right team means everything

By Phil Cobb | March 21, 2026 |

In my last column I told you to stay tuned for more news. I told you there would be good news and there would be sad news.

By now, anyone who has been paying attention is aware of that news.

On Monday, Feb. 16, Cobb Publishing reacquired The Forum and The Post from Garner Media.

A lot has happened in that very short amount of time.

Here’s the sad part: Skye Pournazari, who led our newsroom for the past decade, left us to join the St. Joseph News-Press.

Just to be clear, this was no decision of mine. I would have been perfectly happy to have Skye continue in that role.

Skye had accepted her new job, in the city where she lives, before either of us knew anything about the reacquisition. Simply put, the move made too much sense for her not to make it, so I didn’t try very hard to talk her out of it.

It’s not my place to share the details of why it was the right decision for her, but for a number of reasons, I’m confident she made the right choice, and that she will excel in her new assignment.

That’s all for the sad stuff. The rest of this column is all about good news, and I couldn’t be more excited to welcome our longtime sports editor Jon Dykstra into Skye’s vacated spot.

Jon has been leading our sports coverage for almost the same amount of time that Skye took care of the news, and has reached a kind of celebrity status among athletes, coaches and parents around this part of the state.

I’m not going to lie, I was a little hesitant to take my all-pro sports guy and put him into more of a management role, but there are a couple of key factors that gave me comfort with that decision.

1. He’s still going to have his fingerprints all over our sports coverage, and he will still be present at a good number of games.

2. We were able to recruit Anthony Crane, who has played a role in our sports coverage for several years now, to take on a full-time position. If you follow sports around northwest Missouri, you have and will continue to see a lot of Anthony, especially when it comes to his specialty, 8-man football.

3. Geoffrey Woehlk has agreed to stay on staff as our news editor. This will ensure that Jon doesn’t have to focus a disproportionate amount of his energy on the news side. We know we are in good shape with Geoffrey on board, and we know that no matter how big the story is, we can handle it. He has been joined in the area of news coverage by veteran news reporter Kathryn Rice, who spent the majority of her career with the Nodaway News Leader. She built quite a following among NNL readers over the years, and we trust that they will delight in seeing she is still covering the news they want to read about.

When I look back over the past 30 days, I feel incredibly blessed that the team has come together the way it has. I’m as confident as ever, maybe more so, in our ability to serve Forum readers.

You might be wondering where our reigning most valuable player Rita Piveral fits into all this. Rita is the glue that holds it all together. She’s been at this longer than I have, and has agreed to take on the title of advertising manager.

Rita offers plenty of support on the news side, and somehow finds time to offer invaluable effort and experience to the advertising and administrative sides of the operation, as well.

With Rita on board, I feel equally optimistic that we can do what it takes to keep the business side of this outfit above water.

That’s another important factor of having the right team in place — I can focus my energy on generating enough revenue to pay for our efforts.

When I say generate revenue, I’m not asking for something for nothing, I’m asking for an investment with the expectation of satisfactory gain.

Whether you’re a reader who expects great news and sports coverage, or a business owner who wants more potential customers to walk through your door, we have the team in place to deliver a return on your investment.

Phil Cobb is the editor and publisher of The Maryville Forum.