HERMISTON — The EO Media Group has hired Travis Snell to serve as editor of the Hermiston Herald.

“Travis brings a wealth of experience to the job,” said Andrew Cutler, publisher of the Herald and East Oregonian. “He has experience as a reporter, assistant editor and he’s done a lot of different things. He is going to be a tremendous help to everybody here.”

Snell succeeds Erick Peterson who stepped down in February due to health issues.

Snell, a native of Oklahoma, graduated from Oklahoma City University with a degree in journalism in 1999. He began his newspaper career with the Grove Sun Daily in Oklahoma before going to work for the Delaware County Journal, a weekly paper where he reported and served as editor.

Snell, a Cherokee Nation citizen, then worked for six years as a reporter for the Cherokee Phoenix, a monthly newspaper in Oklahoma, before serving as its assistant editor for 15 years.

One of Snell’s passions is travel. He and his wife, Lisa, and two children enjoy taking vacations in Europe so much they moved to the Czech Republic in December 2021.

“It was during the pandemic and our kids were taking classes online, so we thought why not move to Europe?” he said.

While there, Snell worked remotely doing design work for the Giduwa Cherokee News.

The stay in Europe, however, didn’t last long. His daughter, Sadie, was struggling academically due to language issues. At the same time, his son, Swimmer, was doing fine academically but struggling to find friends who spoke English.

“It was time to move back to the states,” he said.

In his free time, Snell likes to run. He took part in his first marathon in Sweden while in Europe. He also enjoys movies, books and spending time with his family. And, he said, he and his family are not done seeing the world.

“I still love to travel,” Snell said. “I’d like to go to Iceland. There’s a couple of islands in Greece I’d like to visit and a few places in France. I have a few places on my list to check off.”