Executive Bios

Henry Haitz III, President & Publisher

Henry Haitz became President of The State Media Company and Publisher of The State newspaper on May 22, 2006.

Henry joined The (Bradenton, Fl.) Herald as President and Publisher in 2004 after seven years at the (State College, Pa.) Centre Daily Times, the last two as President and Publisher. He joined that newspaper in 1996 as chief financial officer and was named a vice president in 1998. He was controller of the (Long Beach, Calif.) Press-Telegram from 1994 to 1996 and was chief financial officer of Suburban Newspapers of Greater St. Louis from 1992 to 1994. Prior to that, he held business- side positions at The (Lorain, Ohio) Morning Journal and The (Pottstown, Pa.) Mercury.

In 1986, Henry received his bachelor's degree in business administration/accounting from Bloomsburg University. He received his masters of business administration in finance from Penn State University in 1991.

In 2004, Henry was the recipient of the Bloomsburg University Alumni Association’s Young Alumni of the Year Award and in 2000 was named one of the top 20 newspaper executives under the age of 40 by NAA.

Currently, Henry serves on the boards of the United Way of the Midlands, the Central Carolina Community Foundation, Bi-Lo Charities, South Carolina Economics and the Knight Foundation Community Advisory Board. Henry is a member of University Associates. He is also a member of the Inland Press Association Board of Directors.

Henry lives with his wife, Tina Kelley and step-son, Adam Kelley.

Email Henry: hhaitz@thestate.com

Mark Lett, VP & Executive Editor

Lett is responsible for the news-gathering operations of The State and thestate.com, including local, state and national news, sports, business, features and photography.

He joined The State in 1998 as executive editor and vice-president. Lett previously was editor of the Post-Tribune in Gary, Indiana, and was assistant managing editor of The Detroit News. Lett is a former labor writer, auto editor, projects editor, state editor, national editor and city editor of The Detroit News.

Lett also was city editor of The Pittsburgh Press and was deputy city editor of the Detroit Free Press.

A native of Lincoln Park, Michigan, he attended Central Michigan University and is a graduate of Wayne State University in Detroit.

Email Mark: mlett@thestate.com

Bernie Heller, VP of Advertising

Bernie Heller has close to 25 years of experience working in sales, marketing and advertising. He began his newspaper career in New Jersey at SJ Newspapers and The Star-Ledger in the early 90s before relocating to Dallas in late 2003.

He worked with The Dallas Morning News for close to 4 years overseeing national and major retail sales and working his way up to VP Advertising. After leaving The Dallas Morning News, he joined Tribune Media Net as Director of Regional Sales, working with Tribune Company’s media properties including The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Newsday. From 2009 to mid 2011 he worked in a business/new product development role with a number of interactive organizations including the Dallas-based e-Miles and Virginia-based Bulletin News Network. Bernie relocated to Columbia in June 2011 to work with The State Media Company as Director of Classified Advertising. In September 2011, he was named VP Advertising.

Email Bernie: bheller@thestate.com

Diane Frea, VP/Human Resources

Diane has been employed by Knight Ridder/McClatchy since 1988 in management roles in various departments, including News, Production, Information Systems, Marketing, Circulation and Human Resources.

She is a certified career coach and a board member for the Columbia chapter of the Society of Human Resources Management. Diane has volunteered with the United Way of the Midlands and United Way agencies since 2000. She has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ohio State University.

Email Diane: dfrea@thestate.com

Kelly Edwards, VP/ Finance

Kelly is responsible for the financial operations of The State. She relocated to Columbia and joined the newspaper in 2006. Prior to The State, Kelly served as the Chief Financial Officer for The Bradenton Herald in Florida and has held various financial positions in the newspaper industry before that.

She is a native of Arkansas and graduated from the University of Arkansas with a degree in Accounting.

Email Kelly: kedwards@thestate.com

Phil Haggerty, VP/ Operations

Phil Haggerty became Vice President/Operations in May 2008. He has 24 years experience in the newspaper industry. Haggerty previously worked at Ft. Wayne Newspapers in Indiana, The State Newspaper (1988-93), and Philadelphia Newspapers Inc.

A native of Wilmington, DE, Phil is a graduate of Wilmington College with a B.S. in Business Administration and an A.A.S. in Industrial Engineering from Delaware Technical and Community College. He is married with three grown children.

Email Phil: phaggerty@thestate.com

Gary Ward, Managing Editor for Online

Gary returned to his newsroom roots when he became online editor in April 2007. Prior to that, he served in a number of technology management roles at The State and The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News. He installed and managed publishing systems at The Sun News and joined the information systems department at The State in 1993.

Before becoming a technology manager at The Sun News, he worked in the newsroom as a reporter, copy editor, news editor and metro editor.

He received a BA in Journalism from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is a native of northeastern North Carolina.

Email Gary: gward@thestate.com

Ashleigh McAlister, Director of Interactive Media

Ashleigh McAlister is responsible for the online operations of thestate.com and gogamecocks.com and oversees all online operations and strategies.

Ashleigh joined The State in 2004 in the advertising department. Ashleigh has served in a several management roles including advertising sales manager, online operations manager, and online sales manager.

Ashleigh has been an active member of the Junior League of Columbia since 2006 and she served on the Guild for the Columbia Children's Theater, as well as a current member of the Hampton's Garden Club. She received a BA in Advertising from the University of South Carolina and is a native of Mullins, SC. Ashleigh, her husband, Ty, and daughter, Annie, reside in Columbia, SC.

Email Ashleigh: amcalister@thestate.com

Warren Bolton, Associate Editor

Warren Bolton is an associate editor and member of The State's editorial board. His primary area of focus is local government.

The Columbia native has been with the paper for more than two decades.

Email Warren: wbolton@thestate.com

Derek Lawson, Information Technology Site Manager

Derek Lawson was appointed Information Technology Site Manager for The State in May, 2008.

Derek previously held positions at The State including IT Manager, Network Manager, as well as serving in other technology-related positions. He joined The State in April, 1997. Previously he served as Network Manager for The Sun News in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

A native of Greenwood, S.C., Derek received a BA from Lander University in 1992. He, his wife, Angie Lawson, and son, Garrett Lawson reside in Camden, S.C.

Email Derek: dlawson@thestate.com