Last month, WVLT Assistant News Director and former Daily Beacon Editor-in-Chief Nash Armstrong passed away after a car accident. At only 33, Armstrong, revered for his leadership and journalistic ethics, had already worked at WVLT since 2013 and was also a former staff member of the Knoxville News Sentinel, WATE and The Greeneville Sun.
Zac Ellis, Armstrongâs successor as the Beaconâs Editor-in-Chief, was the Beaconâs sports editor during Armstrongâs stint as editor. Ellis said that Armstrong was an exceptional leader especially for a college student who knew well how to balance the sometimes conflicting roles of being both a boss and a friend to his peers at the paper.