Susan Kimball, who spent more than 25 years as a reporter for Maine TV stations, has been hired as the first video reporter for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

Kimball began Jan. 27 and will be responsible for video stories on the newspaper’s website, Pressherald.com.

“Good video has a tremendous power to touch readers’ lives and we want to capitalize on that,” said Cliff Schechtman, executive editor of the newspaper. “(Kimball) is a great interviewer, strong writer, and she knows Maine so well.”

Kimball, who lives in Hollis, said she expects to do all sorts of stories that might lend themselves to video, from breaking news and investigative pieces to lifestyle features. Kimball will be working with videographers on the newspaper’s staff.

Kimball said she’s looking forward to doing stories for the website, where she won’t have the same time constraints reporters at most TV stations have.

“I don’t have to worry about commercial breaks and fitting stories in. If a story needs more time I can give it the time,” said Kimball. “I’m very excited to be part of this newsroom.”

A native of Fairfield, Conn., Kimball worked as a lawyer at Pine Tree Legal Assistance in Presque Isle before becoming a TV news reporter, at WAGM in Presque Isle. She worked at WCSH (Channel 6) in Portland for more than 20 years, before leaving in 2010. Since that time, she has done freelance video work, including for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network and the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram.

Ray Routhier can be contacted at 791-6454 or at:

rrouthier@pressherald.com