Gary Hairlson has been the video director for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch/stltoday.com since 2006 and has overseen newsroom video training and daily video coverage. After joining the Post-Dispatch’s photo staff in 1999, he has worked as a picture editor, assignments editor and assistant director of photography. Before joining the Post-Dispatch, he’s worked as a photo editor at the Pensacola (FL) News Journal and The Jackson (TN) Sun and as the University Photographer at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. He got his start while in high school working part time for his hometown newspaper The Henderson (KY) Gleaner. He has been the Photo Director for the Western Kentucky University Xposure Journalism Workshop and last fall received WKU’s top award for his work teaching high school students during the two-week workshop each Summer since 1982.