Abby Hess - Journalist Profile | Connect with top journalists

Beats

Biography

I'm a Sunflower State Jayhawk transplant to a strange and lovely land between Tiger Country and Razorback Territory. I've been telling stories as long as I can remember and got my first gig reporting when I was 13, for the school paper. Once I knew the exhilaration of pushing deadline, there was no turning back. Before I knew it, I was editing my high school yearbook for three years running. I grew up in an era of physical cutting and pasting and red wax pencils, learned how to lay out pages on Pagemaker. In college, my first paying job was as an assistant online editor whose job it was to upload copy to the ESU Bulletin's digital format, a MUCH more tedious process than it is today. I freelanced for a few years and continued editing for a local digital magazine in Kansas City, now defunct. My main objective read to keep writing while living other life experiences, like teaching preschoolers, helping kids with learning disabilities succeed in school and having kids of my own. In 2015, I'd been working in a garden center and the opportunity to go back to journalism presented itself in a small-town newspaper with a big reach. I jumped in with both feet, and unbelievably, I've never looked back. In May 2019, in a pleasantly surprising turn of events, I took the helm of the West Plains Daily Quill's newsroom as News Editor. I am committed to supporting my staff as they produce local journalism to build community and bring people together through transparency and ethical reporting. The West Plains Daily Quill is a hyperlocal daily newspaper that covers all news within a radius of 60 miles, and produces Ozarks Magazine, a quarterly publication that highlights the southern Missouri and northern Arkansas Ozarks.

Content

Total articles 966

• Available on paid plans

  Howell County pelted by hail in Wednesday storms - West Plains Daily Quill

  By Abby Hess Verified

  Apr. 03, 2025

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Company Info

West Plains Daily Quill

West Plains Daily Quill is a newspapers company based out of P.O. BOX 110, West Plains, MO, United States.