Longtime sports writer Ernest Bowker has been promoted to sports editor at The Vicksburg Post.

Bowker, who began working at The Vicksburg Post as a sports writer in July 1998, has been a constant in the sports department. He has won nearly 50 awards from the Mississippi Press Association and Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press during his career.

“It’s about time,” said Jan Griffey, general manager of The Vicksburg Post. “Ernest is as knowledgeable of Vicksburg sports as anyone and we are fortunate to have him. This title is long overdue.”

Bowker said he is excited to take the reins of the sports section.

“Through the years, I think we’ve been lucky to have some excellent sports editors here at The Post,” Bowker said. “From Billy Ray in the 1960s and 70s, to Sean Murphy and Steve Wilson in the 2000s, there have been some very dedicated journalists and large personalities who have come before me. Even a couple of generations later they’re still remembered fondly around here. It’s humbling to join their ranks. I just hope I can live up to the precedent that they’ve set.”

Until recently, Bowker has been a one-person sports department. However, this week, sports writer Cody Thomason was added to The Vicksburg Post staff.

“We are proud to have positioned ourselves in such a way as to be able to increase our news and sports staff,” Griffey said. “Ernest will provide first rate leadership and guidance for Thomason.”

Thomason is an Oxford native and a 2017 graduate of the University of Mississippi.

“Cody will specialize in covering high school, youth, college and other local sports for The Vicksburg Post,” Bowker said.

Thomason comes to The Post after working previously at Magnolia State Live, the Oxford Eagle and the Daily Mississippian, the student newspaper at Ole Miss.

He previously launched, designed and was co-editor in chief for Auxford Wave, a Mississippi music website.

Thomason also has shot and edited a live music session video series with Mississippi artists, helped compose a tourism video for William Faulkner’s antebellum home of Rowan Oak, co-hosted multiple college sports podcasts on the VSporto network and provided color commentary for high school sports on the NFHS Network and PlayOn! Sports live streams.

“I’m excited to begin working at The Vicksburg Post and to learn more about the community here,” Thomason said. “My goal is to provide quality reporting in sports and other aspects of Vicksburg, and truly getting a sense of what the newsroom is really like.

“I’m thrilled to learn more about this town, and see firsthand the history that’s still so prevalent here today,” Thomason added. “I want to positively impact this community, and can’t wait to learn how it can positively impact me.”