A Beachcomber reporter who has won awards for both her news reporting and feature writing has been tapped to become the newspaper’s next editor.

Natalie Johnson, 25, has replaced former editor Leslie Brown, who left the paper last month.

“We were sad to see Leslie go, but we know Natalie will do a fantastic job as editor,” said Daralyn Anderson, the newspaper’s publisher.

Johnson, a Portland native, came to The Beachcomber in 2010 after earning a journalism degree from Whitworth University in Spokane. While in Spokane, she was also an intern at The Pacific Northwest Inlander, Spokane’s alt-weekly newspaper with a circulation of 40,000.

As The Beachcomber’s only full-time reporter for the past three years, Johnson helped the paper win first place in the Washington Newspaper Publisher Association’s General Excellence competition. Last fall, she garnered six personal WNPA awards for her work.

“Natalie has played a big role in The Beachcomber’s success over the past few years,” Anderson said. “She’s proven she’s a talented and dedicated journalist, and we know she’s ready to take on the responsibility of being editor.”

Brown, who helmed the newspaper for nearly seven years, stepped down last month to take a communications position with the King County Office of Public Defense.

Johnson plans to be married this summer in a ceremony on Vashon. She and her husband-to-be, a student at the University of Washington’s law school, will live on the island.