A new sports editor has joined the Independent Record.

Cliff Pfenning comes to Helena from Portland, Ore., where he spent the past 14 years writing for The Oregonian, Portland Tribune, Willamette Week and managing the multimedia Web site oregonsports.com and its online magazine Oregonsports Journal.

He is a graduate from the University of Oregon, where he started a campus magazine, Oregon Voice, and also invented “The Sports Jury” during his three years at The News-Review in Roseburg.

“We’re really excited to bring somebody of Cliff’s caliber on board at the Independent Record,” editor John Doran said. “His level of experience and leadership qualities are going to be immediately recognized by sports fans here.”

Pfenning, 40, twice self-published the Oregon Sports Almanac and produced numerous videos related to Portland’s Jefferson High School athletic teams.

“I’m very excited about moving to a company that shares my vision of the changing media world,” Pfenning says. “There’s virtually unlimited potential waiting to be realized and I have the kind of creative background that can make a lot of things happen.”

Pfenning, who is also an experienced youth basketball coach, is married to Teresa and has two children, daughter Sydney, 6, and son Reese, 4.

“Beyond the Independent Record’s view of the world, I’m looking forward to enjoying life in a more compact urban area,” Pfenning says. “I’d call Helena a little town, but it has a very active feel with just fewer people, and that’s going to be an adventure my family is very pumped up about.”

Pfenning began Wednesday. He replaces Tom Cotton, who left in June to pursue other interests.

He can be reached at

447-4070 or at

cliff.pfenning@helenair.com