Flores new Visuals Editor at South Bend Tribune

Santiago Flores became visuals editor of The South Bend Tribune Jan. 31.

    He replaced photo editor Paul Rakestraw, who decided to retire after more than 30 years at The Tribune and move to Boulder, Colorado.

   “Paul is such a gracious, earnest and talented man,” said Cory Havens, The Tribune’s deputy manager for news. “He taught so much to so many of us. I’m so happy he’s enjoying his new life in Colorado.”

   Santiago was born in Zacatecas, Mexico, in 1973, and moved to South Bend in 1979, becoming a U.S. citizen in 2003. At Riley High School in South Bend he was co-editor in chief of the school newspaper in 1992. He went on to Indiana University at Bloomington, with a Foellinger Scholarship.

    At IU, Santiago worked on the Arbutus yearbook staff and did some work for the Indiana Daily Student. After graduation in 1996 Santiago he returned to The Tribune, where he had interned in 1994.

    After his first two months as Tribune visuals editor, Santiago is still learning his new position and the difficulties of providing photo support with ever-shrinking resources. “I enjoy trying to figure out what we’re going to put out tomorrow and see how we can get the best pictures,” he said.

    Getting the best pictures is something Santiago knows a lot about. “Santiago is such a great photographer in his own right,” said Havens. “You don’t have to look at all of his awards. Just look at his photos.”