BOISE, Idaho — Teddy Feinberg's previous visits to Boise have been memorable.
His first was a stopover on a cross-country road trip from Seattle to his home state of New York. On that trip he had breakfast at Moon's Kitchen Cafe in downtown, where he saw a cook behind the counter with "the absolute best sideburns I've seen in my life."
His second was for a night's rest while making the drive from Ellensburg, Washington, where he'd just graduated college, to Roswell, New Mexico, for his first job out of school. On that trip he was accompanied by his parents and they made a point to visit the Capitol, which was a family tradition in their travels.
Then there was the time he traveled here as the New Mexico State football beat writer to watch the Aggies take a 58-0 drubbing at the hands of the Boise State Broncos on the Blue Turf.
And those are just some that have stood out.
Starting next month Feinberg, 38, will have the chance to make many more memories in the Treasure Valley when he takes the helm of the newsroom at the Idaho Press, the largest circulated print publication in the state. He succeeds Holly Beech, who spent a decade at the Idaho Press before taking a job with the Idaho Office for Refugees last month.
Feinberg was hired after a nationwide search. He comes to Idaho from The Bakersfield Californian, where he has been the news editor for 2 1/2 years.
"We considered several candidates for this position and Teddy was a solid standout," Idaho Press Publisher Matt Davison said. "He has a passion for local community journalism and the enthusiasm to keep the Idaho Press moving forward and adapting to today’s readers.
"I can’t wait to see what he accomplishes here at the Idaho Press."
Feinberg caught the journalism bug at Central Washington University, where he served as sports editor of the student newspaper The Observer. He has spent 15 years working in newspapers with stints in Roswell and Las Cruces, New Mexico, and York, Pennsylvania, before arriving at The Californian in 2017. The Californian has won back-to-back first-place awards for general excellence from the California News Publishers Association in the second-highest circulation category for daily newspapers. (Similarly, the Idaho Press has won back-to-back general excellence awards from the Idaho Press Club as the state's best daily newspaper.)
As The Californian's sports editor he helped increase its website traffic on its primary online high school platform BVarsity.com. In 2019, he was promoted to news editor, where he oversaw both sports and news. In his tenure as news editor, The Californian's overall website traffic has increased as well.
Feinberg said he's eager for the challenge of having the top newsroom job at one of the nation's fastest-growing newspapers and in one of its fastest-growing communities. Curiously, this is the first time he's taken a job in a community where he'd visited prior to being hired.
"I'm not one to back away from a challenge," Feinberg said. "Working in a community like the Treasure Valley excites me.
"I feel blessed to get the opportunity to prove myself in a new market. I believe (the Idaho Press) is right where I'm meant to be. It feels like the right place at the right time. I'm very excited to get started."
Feinberg's first day is July 6.
"I want to continue to bring a high-quality product to the community — something we can all be proud of," he said.
