Fort Worth Report

Wes Turner is a long-time civic leader in Fort Worth, having been publisher of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, from 1997 to 2008. After retiring from the Star-Telegram, he served as chairman of the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce. He currently is a consultant for Advance Newhouse, a long-standing national publisher of daily newspapers and digital news web sites. His other civic service includes board chair of United Way of Metropolitan Tarrant County and board member of the Van Cliburn Foundation and Performing Arts of Fort Worth. As editor, he led two newspapers to recognition as the best in the nation for their size. His newspapers have earned hundreds of state and national honors, including the Robert G. McGruder Award for Diversity Leadership. Cobler was the first Donald W. Reynolds Nieman Fellow for community journalism at Harvard University, where he studied the digital future of news and how to promote a constructive community conversation about changing demographics. He is a recipient of the Texas Daily Newspaper Association Editorial Achievement Award for courage and commitment to open government; the Texas Press Association Frank W. Mayborn Award for Community Leadership; and a current board member and past president of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas.

With a career spanning more than three decades in the media industry, Mike brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record in monetizing news audiences. He was most recently regional president in Washington and Oregon for Adams Publishing Group LLC, a company that publishes newspapers, periodicals and websites across the country. Mike worked as a group publisher at the Midland Reporter-Telegram, served as vice president of sales at the Amarillo Globe-News and has family near Fort Worth. In 2007, he started a digital marketing agency in Phoenix, growing it from three to 15 employees. While growing up on a farm in Iowa, Mike showed animals at the Fort Worth Stock Show. Beyond professional achievements, he is passionate about traveling, the outdoors and photography.

Sonya is a Fort Worth native whose passion for journalism was ignited at the Bob Schieffer College of Communication at Texas Christian University, where she earned degrees in news-editorial journalism and strategic communications. Having contributed to NBC 5/KXAS-TV, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Fort Worth, Texas: The City’s Magazine, she was thrilled to return to the journalism field after more than a decade managing member relationships and organizing events for nonprofits including Lena Pope and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. Sonya grew up in her family’s restaurant, Los Vaqueros, in the Historic Fort Worth Stockyards, and lives in Fort Worth with her husband and daughter.