Burton receives honor from Ozark Press Association

Ozark Press Association President Dan Wehmer (right) presents longtime board member David Burton with a plaque of appreciation at a recent OPA board meeting.
Burton, the County Engagement and Community Development Specialist with University of Missouri Extension in Springfield, recently resigned from the Ozark Press Association board after decades of service due to job-duty changes and his desire to see “more newspaper voices at the table.” He has been with the extension service for 20 years.
Burton started his service to the OPA board around 1989 when he was managing editor at the Willard Cross Country Times. Since then, he has served on the board until this summer (except for a brief gap of four years ago in the early 2000s).
He has helped plan annual OPA conventions and has hosted several of them at the Botanical Center in Springfield.
The plaque recognizes Burton “in appreciation of decades of service and commitment to community journalism and the OPA organization.”
“I have had a love affair with weekly newspapers since I managed my own starting in 1989,” said Burton. “A free press is important, and a vibrant weekly newspaper is essential to rural communities in Missouri. Our goal as a board has always been to provide training and events that help owners and editors here in southwest Missouri produce better and profitable publications. I am proud to be associated with the group. I just thought it was time for some other area journalists to join in the leadership by serving on the board of directors.”