Max Jones, editor of the Commercial-News for the past 4 years, is retiring effective July 1.
Amy Graham-McCarty, a veteran journalist with extensive experience at newspapers in Indiana and other states, has been appointed to succeed Jones as editor.
Publisher Amy Winter made the official announcement of Jones’ retirement and McCarty’s appointment to the newspaper’s staff earlier this month.
Jones joined the Commercial-News as editor in 2020, an expanded role he took on in addition to being longtime editor of the Tribune-Star in Terre Haute, Indiana.
Jones said it was honor to be able to serve readers in Danville and Vermilion County and appreciated the support he and the newspaper have received from the community.
“I have had the privilege of working with a lot of talented and dedicated journalists throughout my 49 years in the newspaper industry,” Jones said. “My enduring memories will be about the joy and satisfaction I felt being associated with them.”
A native of Loogootee, Indiana, Jones obtained a journalism degree from Indiana University-Bloomington in 1974. Before joining the Tribune-Star, he spent 10 years at the Sullivan Daily Times in Sullivan, Indiana.
In addition to his responsibilities as editor in Danville and Terre Haute, he was appointed regional editor in 2021 for CNHI’s newspapers in Massachusetts and New York. CNHI is parent company to the Commercial-News and Tribune-Star.
Jones won a number of awards for his work, including multiple first place honors for editorial writing. In 2012, the Hoosier State Press Association presented Jones with its Distinguished Service Award.
In April, Jones was inducted into the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame.
Graham-McCarty served as executive editor for Hoosier Media Group in Monticello, Indiana, from 2021 to spring of 2023, when she and her family moved to Danville. Other newspaper experience includes a stint as managing editor at the News Sun in Kendallville, Indiana, editor of the Bryan Times/Leader Enterprise in Bryan, Ohio, and as columnist at the Peru Tribune in Peru, Indiana. She has received numerous awards for her work in news and features writing as well as news photography.
Graham-McCarty obtained a bachelor’s degree in communication studies from Manchester College in North Manchester Indiana.