Emily Enfinger, a veteran newspaper reporter who most recently worked for The Courier and Daily Comet, has been named Managing Editor of The Daily Iberian.

New Daily Iberian Managing Editor Emily Enfinger has enjoyed community reporting, and looks forward to bringing her experience to bear on her new job starting Monday in New Iberia.

That means making sure the newspaper understands what issues are important to the community and covering those issues.

Daily Iberian Publisher Michael Messerly said Enfinger’s experience reporting in South Louisiana, most recently with The Courier and Daily Comet in Houma/Thibodaux, will help make her transition to a new role in New Iberia a more smooth one.

“Emily has covered a lot of news events throughout southern Louisiana so we’re not bringing in someone who will need a lot of time to get to know what makes Louisiana and our area so unique,” he said. “Emily will be able to get up to speed quickly when leading our newsroom.”

Enfinger has experience working at several newspapers, beginning at the Selma Times-Journal in Selma, Alabama, before moving to the Daily Star in Hammond and then the Opelika-Auburn News in Opelika, Alabama. She also worked at the Shreveport Times before moving on to the Tuscaloosa News in Alabama, and then most recently worked at The Courier and Daily Comet. A focus for a lot of that time was on crime and breaking news reporting, with more feature work in Houma and Thibodaux.

Enfinger, 28, caught the journalism bug while working for the student newspaper at Auburn University, the Auburn Plainsman, as an undergraduate. A fine arts major with a concentration on photography, Enfinger said she originally planned to be an art teacher until she worked for the Plainsman.

“Doing that there, I knew that’s what I wanted to continue doing,” she said. “I do have a few family members who were in journalism. I’m glad to be continuing that as well.”

Enfinger’s background in fine arts and photography also will be assets in her new job, Messerly said.

“Emily brings to the position a wide range of skills that suit both the newspaper and all of our digital work,” he said. “Her background with visuals (photo and video) will also be a great addition for our coverage.”

Enfinger said she is excited to learn more about Iberia Parish and the people in it. That includes food recommendations.

“If there’s any great places around, my email is open for recommendations on where to eat,” she said.

Messerly said Enfinger came highly recommended, and he is excited to have her on board.

“I have a group of Louisiana journalists that I put a lot of trust in and each of them spoke to Emily’s talents and toughness,” Messerly said. “She’s primarily been a cops and courts reporter and you can’t do that job shy and timid, so she brings some spunk to the role that I’m excited to have in an editor and it will be a great benefit to Daily Iberian readers.”