Veteran journalist R.E. “Res” Spears III, a staff writer for The Tidewater News since 2006, has been promoted to managing editor of the Suffolk News-Herald.

“Res has earned this opportunity to lead the newsroom in Suffolk,” said Jesse J. Lindsey, publisher of The Suffolk News-Herald. “I’m excited about the experience and professionalism Res brings to our newsroom,” said Lindsey. “Res truly understands community journalism.”

Spears, a resident of Portsmouth, has worked in community newspapers throughout southeastern and central Virginia since 1986, when he began his journalism career at The Tidewater News.

He left newspapers in 1997 to join his family’s construction company, Shirley Construction Corp., which took honors as the Hampton Roads Small Business of the Year in 2002.

Spears came back to journalism in 2006, returning to the newspaper where he started his career, serving at various times as a staff writer/photographer and as interim editor. During his most recent tenure in Franklin, he won both writing and photography awards in the Virginia Press Association’s annual news and photography contests.

Spears, who spent his teen years in northern Suffolk and graduated from Nansemond-Suffolk Academy in 1982, said he looks forward to being back in the area that he considers “home.”

He and his wife, Annette, plan to move to Suffolk early next year, and he said he is eager to renew old friendships.

“I’ve loved Suffolk since my family moved here when I was 13,” he said. “I can’t wait to be back home, and I’m looking forward to working with the folks here and with Jesse Lindsey and the rest of the staff at the Suffolk-News Herald.”

Spears is a member of Bethany Baptist Church in Portsmouth. He has two stepdaughters and three step-grandchildren.