She tugs and tugs at the reins, the sheep’s head fitted into a halter.
It won’t budge. She tugs some more.
Finally there’s movement.
The sheep lays down. This was not the movement she wanted.
The girl, only 9, keeps at it, determined to train this sheep to walk in a circle.
A few weeks later, she shows the sheep at a fair, the people by the pen eyeing the sheep she’s been fattening and training for the last five months.
It sells for just over $1,000, and that is this 9-year-old’s hobby until she turns 13. Then she will sell beef cows until her junior year of high school.
This farm girl from Lynden, Wash., which sits on the United States-Canadian border, is now the new editor of The Coronado News.
Editor in Chief at 22
But, selling beef cows is not even the most interesting thing about her.
Fransen, 22, has also worked on a lavender farm and has done commercial salmon fishing almost every year since she was a child.
Fransen came to The Coronado News a year ago as an intern while she was finishing her degree in English at Point Loma Nazarene University, where she also studied elementary education.
“I have always stuck to the fact that I love to write. And that has always been true through my whole life,” Fransen says.
In her junior year of college, she had to take her first journalism class as part of her English major, which eventually propelled her into the world of being a reporter.
“I totally switched tracks and stopped getting my teaching credential and went down the journalism path,” she says.
And so she filled the last few semesters she had with journalism courses, finishing with a multimedia journalism concentration.
In that time, she became the Opinion editor of the Point, Point Loma Nazarene University’s school newspaper, and started as an intern at The Coronado News.
“Sofie has done an amazing job going from an intern to part-time reporter, to full-time writer to editor,” said outgoing Editor Craig Harris. “She may be young, but she is thoughtful, ethical and an outstanding journalist. And, she already has written in-depth profiles about community members in Coronado.”
Paul Huntsman, owner of The Coronado News, added Fransen will do an amazing job.
Sofie represents the greatest qualities of journalism – an insatiable drive for facts, truth and a conscientious awareness of fairness and apolitical approach towards reporting.
Paul Huntsman, owner of The Coronado News.
“Sofie represents the greatest qualities of journalism – an insatiable drive for facts, truth and a conscientious awareness of fairness and apolitical approach towards reporting,” Huntsman said.
Huntsman also acknowledged Harris in the role he played in launching The Coronado News.
“He’s a great asset to our community and we look forward to following his investigative work in San Diego, and beyond,” Huntsman said.
Fransen’s journey to editor
Fransen said she knew journalism was what she wanted to pursue after college.
“I’ve always been a searcher. I’ve always been super curious and always want to listen to people’s stories and what people have to say,” Fransen says. “Going into this job at first as a reporter, I’ve loved doing that and I’ve loved telling people’s stories. And I’ve always been interested in editing.”
Fransen says she’s inspired by Harris, who launched the paper in early 2023. He is leaving for an investigative reporting position with ABC 10News San Diego.
Being editor is not just about editing stories and working with the reporters, but working on relationships outside of the reporters and working on leading an entire newspaper, says Fransen.
Although she says she’s going to miss the reporting side of being a journalist, she believes that parts of it will still be expressed, just in different ways.
And despite her age, Fransen says she is accomplished and ready for this post.
“I have a lot of confidence in my strengths and confidence in my competency to do this job,” Fransen says.
I do want to thank the Coronado community for being so receptive so far…I’m super excited to see the stories that we’re all going to tell in the future.
Sofie Fransen
“I do want to thank the Coronado community for being so receptive so far…I’m super excited to see the stories that we’re all going to tell in the future.”
