email: georges@patch.com

Phone: Your work number.(847) 331-4596
Hometown: Skokie
Birthday: May 1, 1983

Bio: I grew up in Skokie and originally wanted to be a foreign correspondent. Now, I'm covering my hometown. I served in the United States Army, worked for then Senator Obama, covered the military for the Killeen Daily Herald and graduated from Columbia College Chicago, among other things.

POLITICS

How would you describe your political beliefs?

I grew up in a home where I voted for Obama, my mother voted for McCain, my sister voted for Ralph Nader and my oldest brother was undecided. As you can imagine, politics at the dinner table was usually pretty fierce. In the end, however, I vote for best man/woman for the job. 

Are you registered with a certain party? 

I am not registered with any political party.

RELIGION

How religious would you consider yourself? (Ie, casual, observant, devout, non-religious).

I'm Catholic and go to church on the holidays. In the future, I plan on going to church a little more, but right now life is hectic.

Do you identify with a certain religion? If so, which one?

See above.

LOCAL HOT-BUTTON ISSUES

What do you think are the most important issues facing the community? 

After attending a town hall meeting on June 24th, 2010, it was clear that Section 8 housing is the most controversial topic in town. Park safety and home burglaries are tied for second, in my opinion.

Where do you stand on each of these issues?

I haven't been able to investigate the issues to come to my own conclusion yet. Will update in the near future.

Chi-an is a graduate of Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University with a concentration in new media. She helped launch atyourlibrary.org, a website dedicated to raising public awareness of libraries for the American Library Association. She has served as editor for the site as well as Discovery, an internal magazine for board members, staff and volunteers of YMCA of USA.

Her works have appeared in Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the Daily Herald, Northwest Indiana Times, Chicago Reader, Xinhua News Agency and Taiwan Headlines. For more of her works visit: www.chianchang.com. Having spent her life living in Taiwan, England, America and Japan, she appreciates technological advancements that help her stay in touch with the people she loves around the world.

After graduating from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in June 2009,  Andrea Hart served as the news editor for Circle of Blue—a leading environmental news organization that focuses on the global freshwater crisis. Missing the more immediate connection of community journalism, Andrea is excited to humanize national issues through multimedia storytelling as the editor of the Wilmette-Kenilworth Patch.

Janice Cha has been volunteering with CARE For the Evanston Animal Shelter for more than 15 years now. In addition to scrubbing dirty kennels, she also has stepped up as chief editor for CARE's newsletter, Pawprints. When she's not taking care of her cats or dog, she can also be found writing about sustainability issues with a special focus on foodservice equipment and restaurant design.

I've worked in journalism for almost 20 years, including writing editorials for a major daily Chicago-area newspaper for 12 years, reporting and writing feature stories for seven years, and finally writing education stories for the largest Chicago daily newspaper. I'm excited to join Patch and enter the world of online journalism. My two kids go to school in the Niles area, so I have a great affection for the town and its people. 

Born in North Miami Beach, Fla., Samantha braved the cold weather to attend Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism, where she graduated in 2006 with an accelerated masters degree.

She currently works full time as a freelance reporter and editor. Her work can be found at Patch.com, The Daily Herald, RedEye and The A.V. Club. She lives in Evanston with her fiance and two cats.

I am a writer, photographer and filmmaker with a masters degree in journalism from Northwestern University.

Follow my work on my website:

cabentley.com

And my photography here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34610267@N05/

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.