Cooney named editor of The CR

Ray Cooney has been named editor of The Commercial Review effective Dec. 1, publisher Jack Ronald announced today.
Ronald, 66, has been editor of The CR since September 1977. He has also served as publisher since 1983 and will continue in that role and as president of the Graphic Printing Company Inc.
Cooney, 36, has been managing editor of Jay County’s daily newspaper since July 2013. He joined The CR’s staff as sports editor in early 2001 and has won numerous awards from the Hoosier State Press Association for his reporting, writing and photography. In 2012, he received the Distinguished Media Service Award from the Indiana High School Athletic Association.
A graduate of Cleveland State University, Cooney is originally from Avon, Ohio.
“Ray brings to the job of editor a combination of energy, journalistic skills, and a connection to our community,” Ronald said. “Any locally-owned daily newspaper would be fortunate to have him at the helm in the newsroom. This marks the end of a chapter for me but the beginning of an exciting chapter for The CR and its readers.”
For his part, Ronald said he plans to continue to be an active contributor to The CR’s news product, particularly on the editorial page. He is the recipient of more than three dozen awards for editorial writing, commentary, reporting and photography.
A Fulbright Scholar to the Republic of Moldova in 1998, Ronald has done extensive consulting and training with independent journalists in eight of the former Soviet republics as well as Afghanistan and Myanmar. In 2004, he received the Indiana Journalism Award from the journalism department of Ball State University “for his leadership in community journalism in Indiana and his efforts to promote and teach the ideals of a free press in former Soviet republics.” In 2013, he was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.