LYNN — What’s this? News from the newsroom? Yup.
Gayla Cawley, who has been a reporter for The Item since 2015, has been promoted to regional editor. She will direct daily coverage for the newspaper.
Cawley, a native of Danbury, Conn., is a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a degree in English and journalism. She lives in Lynn.
Steve Krause will become the paper’s senior writer.
We’ve also hired several new reporters and a photographer. Joining the news staff as reporters are Allysha Dunnigan, a Lynn Classical and Salem State University graduate with a degree in media and communications; and Tréa Lavery, a native of Franklin, who went to Franklin High and graduated from Northeastern University with a journalism degree.
Julia Hopkins has joined the photography staff. Hopkins, a Warwick, R.I. native, is a graduate of the Prout School, a college preparatory school in Wakefield, R.I., and of Boston College, where she served as photo editor for its newspaper The Heights.
Another Item photographer, Spenser Hasak, has been recognized by the Boston Press Photographers’ Association with a second place prize in its animal category for his photo of ‘Cheerio’ the duck, which appeared in the paper last December after the duck became the first non-human inducted into the Nahant Historical Society and was subsequently named Essex Media Group’s “person” of the year for Nahant.
“We are confident that The Item will continue to evolve under Gayla’s leadership,” said Ted Grant, president and publisher of EMG. He welcomed the new reporters and photographer, and said: “Their age and gender will provide a fresh perspective for the paper.
“And congratulations to Spenser,” Grant said. “That is quite a feather in his cap.”
