By Maria McIlwain | Sports Print Coordinator for The Philadelphia Inquirer
Dan Spears was working from home when APSE president Gary Potosky called with life-changing news — or at least news that will greatly alter Spears’ next few years.
Spears had been elected as APSE’s Second Vice President, meaning he will ascend to the presidency in two years. He takes office on the last day of the summer conference, which will take place June 15-18 in Indianapolis.
“It was a really pleasant surprise,” Spears said. “I did not fully expect to win because there were three great people running for it, and I’ve known Justin (Pelletier) and Josh (Barnett) for quite a while, so I felt that no matter who won, we were going to be in a great place. But it was really nice to know that I got picked for this, and that people believe that I can be a good leader for us at a national level for the next three years and beyond.”
Spears is the sports editor of the Wilmington StarNews and the NC East Group, USA TODAY Network. Spears has been in Wilmington, working in several capacities, since 2006 and took on the additional role in 2020. He also had stops at The Augusta Chronicle (2002-06), The (Hagerstown, Md.) Herald-Mail (1998-2002) and Anderson Independent-Mail (1995-98). He has been attending APSE summer conferences since 2006 and judging since 2014.
Spears’ time working for smaller publications as well as his previous experience holding national office shaped his vision for APSE. He served as third vice president from 2018-20 and was Atlantic Coast vice chair and chair from 2016-18. As third vice president, Spears hosted Google Hangouts for fellow members at smaller outlets to discuss topics most relevant to them, and he hopes to have a version of those meetings for editors across the organization. It’s that kind of connection Spears wants to foster as a national officer.
“How do we just keep opening doors and keep giving people opportunities?” Spears said. “The more chances you have to open a door, the better chance someone’s going to walk through it. And I believe we can create that through informal and formal outlets.”
Spears follows other recent presidents from smaller outlets such as Tommy Deas (previously of the Tuscaloosa News) and John Bednarowski (Marrietta Daily Journal). He has learned a lot from them — as well as other past presidents — whose contributions have continued after their time in office.
“Even though we’ve gone through a series of time where we’ve lost newspaper editors because of conglomeration and mergers, I think the fact that we’ve had strong leadership from the smallest newsrooms shows people that they are still important to us,” Spears said. “APSE is not just about the biggest major metros. It’s about the smallest places, too. … I hope that I can emulate (Deas’ and Bednarowski’s) success. I hope that I can open one more new door for somebody in our organization, between now and my time that I finish as an officer. If that happens, then I’ll have done it right.”
