Journalism in a 24/7 World: Decision-making for the Online Editor

Agenda | Speakers | Fellows | Resources

Fellows

Nancy Blair is responsible for the technology section of USAToday.com, a role added in January to her duties as technology news senior assignment editor for the money section. The team she manages produces technology news for both the Web site and the newspaper. Previously, Blair spent three and a half years as personal finance editor for USA Today, during which her team received a 2004 Society of American Business Editors and Writers Best in Business (SABEW) award and was a 2005 finalist in the Gerald Loeb Award for Distinguished Business and Financial Journalism. She has worked for USA Today’s parent, Gannett, since 1994, serving as regional editor for Gannett News Service and in various editing positions for Gannett Suburban Newspapers. Blair has an English degree from the College of William and Mary.

Email:
Phone: (415) 901-5363

Heather Buono covers news and features as senior content producer for Yahoo! Broadband Portals and Yahoo.com, promoted after a year as content producer for Yahoo! Broadband Portals. Her features’ coverage includes entertainment, pop culture, video, science, technology, life styles, sports, among others.  Previously, she was senior editor at Red Herring Magazine and RedHerring.com for two years, following eight years as a freelance content producer that included a role as MSN TV content producer. Buono earned a Bachelor of Arts with honors from Colby College.

Email:
Phone: (401) 215-3530

Emilio Castellanos uses his fluency in Spanish and English, as well as technical languages, to oversee La Opinion newspaper’s Web site as senior online coordinator/editor for the newspaper and Impremedia Digital. The site won the Arroba de Oro (Golden Ampersand) 2006 for best online newspaper in the United States. He joined Los Angeles-based La Opinion in 2003 as assistant online editor after an international business career. Castellanos gained experience in marketing, media, international sales, quality control, administration, finance and technology while working for Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce in Oakland, Calif., his own Zappa Commerce marketing firm, Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Tecoman, Suelas Italia, and Cuahutemoc Moctezuma Brewery, the latter four based in Mexico, but sometimes involving international travel. He received his Bachelor of Arts in international business and marketing, and Master of Business Administration from Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Education) and is vice president of ITESM Alumni Association in California. Castellanos also studied computer information systems for two years at University of California, Berkeley, and received an associate degree in advertising art, advertising and design from La Jolla Academy of Advertising Art.

Email:
Phone: (213) 896-3630

Bill Chappell has been a producer at National Public Radio's Web site since 2003, a period of incorporating podcasts and blogs into NPR’s home page, audio and text offerings. Before joining NPR, he worked for CNN as associate producer for CNNSI.com, associate editor for CNN Interactive and research specialist at CNN Library. During his four years at CNN, Chappell combined video, photographs and interactive elements in facilitating TV and Web site coverage of news and features. Earlier, he was a contributing writer to Flagpole magazine, columnist for Slam magazine, and contributing editor to the Athens (Ga.) Observer. While working on a master’s thesis, Chappell was a part-time copy editor at the Inlander (Spokane, Wash.). He earned his bachelor’s degrees in English and history at the University of Georgia, where he was editorial page editor at the Red and Black. Chappell attended University of South Carolina for courses toward a Master of Arts in English.

Email:
Phone: (202) 513-3624

Esther Chou aims to attract new online readers who don't necessarily read the newspaper, create community, and position her site as a news authority, among her objectives as online editor for the San Gabriel Valley (Calif.) Newspaper Group. She became online editor a year ago after two years as a reporter for the San Gabriel Valley Tribune. Chou received a bachelor’s degree from Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism.

Email:
Phone: (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2513

Alicia Cypress is business editor of washingtonpost.com, overseeing business, technology and science sections that cover such major issues as identity theft and global warming. She moved to that position this year after nearly two years as business and technology producer for washingtonpost.com. Cypress had been an editorial aide and staff writer for the Washington Post for 10 years before beginning her work for washingtonpost.com and continues to interact and brainstorm with her print counterparts. She graduated from American University with a Bachelor of Arts in public communication.

Email:
Phone: (703) 469-2956

Gerard DeMarco is breaking news editor at the (N.J.) Record, but remains the law and order editor for the newspaper during the transition to a revamped Web site. Besides crime and public corruption stories, he conceived, organized and directed 39 reporters and eight photographers to produce a chronicle of how the first 9/11 anniversary was observed. In another contrast from his usual beat, DeMarco writes occasional op-ed humor pieces, typically about an entertainment topic. However, his career has centered on the criminal justice system as a reporter for the Record for four years before his nine-year term as law and order editor, and in earlier reporting for the (Stamford, Conn.) Advocate and (Woodbridge, N.J.) News Tribune. For his work at the latter newspaper, DeMarco won awards for stories about the failings of New Jersey’s juvenile justice system and corruption in public housing management. He also covered government and general assignments for the Trenton Times, (West Nyack, N. J.) Journal-News and (Norwalk, Conn.) Fairpress, while freelancing as a pop music writer for more than 20 years. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in English from St. Peter’s College in New Jersey.

Email:
Phone: (201) 646-4039

Cassandra Douglas joined Microsoft as a managing editor after serving three years as director of information services at the Austin American-Statesman. Her responsibilities at the Statesman included supervising the research department, supervising the editorial assistants and coordinating special projects. During her tenure at the Statesman, Douglas had various other assignments including health editor, fashion editor, wire editor and travel editor. She began her journalism career at the Florida Times-Union in Jacksonville, while pursuing a bachelor's degree in communications at the University of North Florida. At the Times-Union, Douglas worked her way up in the newsroom, holding positions such as editorial assistant, copy editor and, finally, an assistant features editor.

Email:
Phone: (425) 705-7416

Leah Eichler is deputy editor at Reuters Online Newsroom, for which she was named Desker of the year in 2006 by Reuters. She is also partially responsible for the content of uk.reuters.com as well as today.reuters.ca. Before taking the deputy editor job in 2005, Eichler was editor-in-charge for Reuters Online Canada for six years, moving up from online reporter and editor. From 1999 through 2002, she was Canadian correspondent for Publishers Weekly while working for Reuters. Eichler began her journalism career as an editorial assistant at the Jerusalem Report. A graduate of the University of Western Ontario, she holds a Bachelor of Arts with honors in English literature and political science.

Email:
Phone: (416) 941-1595

Lianne Elliott is a senior writer for CBCNews.ca, the news Web site run by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). As a senior writer, she writes breaking news as it occurs, but is also often in charge of the Web site lineup, choosing what stories the CBC covers and how they are presented. Prior to joining the CBC, Elliott worked as a newspaper reporter for five years, covering news, arts, sports, and lifestyles. She worked at the Montreal Gazette, as well as the Record in Kitchener, Ontario and the Whig-Standard in Kingston, Ontario. A highlight was covering the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, for the Kitchener Record. Elliott wrote features and breaking news stories on athletes from the Kitchener area, plus a daily blog with her observations about life at the Games. Elliott holds a bachelor's degree with honors in English Literature from Queen's University and a master's degree in journalism from the University of Western Ontario.

Email:
Phone: (416) 205-2464

Jennifer Fields is programming manager for AOL, creating online information on some of the diet and health topics that were familiar in her earlier work at women’s magazines. She had been associate editor at Weight Watchers Magazine for two years and served as editorial assistant, assistant editor, associate editor and Web editor at O, the Oprah Magazine during a four-year stint. Fields was also an assistant at Working Woman Magazine and a social worker at A Better Start, both now defunct. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from University of Pennsylvania and a Master of Arts in journalism from New York University.

Email:
Phone: (212) 206-5938

Casey Frank was plucked from a very comfortable role as night news editor last year and given the alien task of leading the Miami Herald’s 24/7 efforts online through the auspices of a newly created unit called the Continuous News Desk. As day news editor, he is a cheerleader, an advocate and a facilitator for online journalism and is gratified that all Miami Herald projects are now including a major online multimedia component. Earlier positions Frank held during his 29 years at the newspaper were deputy city editor, assistant city editor, copy chief, neighbors assistant editor, foreign desk slot and reporter. He was part of the large editing team for coverage of Iran-contra scandal, Hurricane Andrew and Elian Gonzalez saga, all of which won Pulitzer Prizes for the newspaper’s staff. Before joining the Miami Herald, he was a reporter for the Tampa Tribune and the Coffeyville (Kan.) Journal, as well as founding editor of the Lincoln Park (Chicago) News. Frank’s coverage of John Birch Society takeover of Coffeyville city government won a Best of Gannett award in 1975. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in international studies from Florida International University and has done graduate work at University of Miami.

Email:
Phone: (305) 376-3431

Bill Frederickson constantly aims to engage, entertain and inform the MSN.com audience in his role as content editor for the site. An example is his recent teamwork in helping coordinating the editorial coverage and promotion for the Live Earth concert event. A multimedia journalist for his entire 12-year career, Frederickson was a sports editor for MSNBC.com and a senior editor for ESPN.com before joining MSN.com. He is a graduate of University of Washington.

Email:
Phone: (425) 704-9216

David Hancock is currently home page editor of CBSNews.com, and has been a multimedia journalist for nearly half his 25-year career. At CBS for the past five years, he was evening assignments editor for CBSNews.com before taking his current position that he likens to a managing editor role for the site. CBSNews.com has won staff honors including an Eppy, a Murrow Award and an Online News Association award. Previously, Hancock was a producer for such Web sites as Office.com (now discontinued), New Jersey Online, NewsWorks (discontinued) and the Miami Herald, where he was part of the launching team in 1996. He was a general assignments reporter for the Miami Herald before joining the newspaper’s Web site team and shared in a Pulitzer Prize for staff coverage of Hurricane Andrew. Hancock’s newspaper experience includes jobs as Mexico reporter for the El Paso Times and the same role for the Brownsville Herald. He graduated from the University of Arizona with Bachelor of Arts degrees in journalism and Spanish. An aspiring short story writer, Hancock has seen one story published.

Email:
Phone: (212) 975-5505

Cory Heikkila is home page producer for the Houston Chronicle’s Web site, following a six-year stint as assistant online entertainment editor for HoustonChronicle.com. During his latter role, a story, “Return of Roller Derby to Houston,” was cited by Hearst in its May 2006 Web-only honors for “its rich storytelling, which included photos, facts and figures, an animated cartoon, a gallery including narration from fans and players, video, music and history.” He initially joined the Houston Chronicle as copy editor in 1999. He earned an undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, majoring in history and journalism.

Email:
Phone: (713) 362-2746

Lili Ladaga is news editor for Yahoo! where she has worked for the past year. Earlier she was a copywriter for Rent.com and copy editor for Citysearch.com. CNN employed Ladaga from 1993 through 2001, first as an associate producer for the 10 a.m. Morning Show with Bill Hemmer and Daryn Kagan, later as a Web writer/editor for CNN.com. She was part of the CNN newsroom team that won an Emmy for Olympic Park bombing coverage. Ladaga earned a Bachelor of Arts in English at Vanderbilt University.

Email:
Phone: (310) 907-2730

Linda B. Leavell became interactive news editor at the Dallas Morning News this year after four years as a senior editor at the newspaper’s Web site. Earlier, she had a nine-year stint with the Associated Press, serving as Texas news editor, night/day supervisor and reporter. Previous jobs included city editor and assistant city editor for the Odessa American and city editor of the now defunct Vista Press. Leavell graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Journalism.

Email:
Phone: (214) 977-7732

Jeff Light is deputy editor for ocregister.com, responsible for Web content, quality and work flows. At the Orange County (Calif.) Register since 1993, he has been deputy editor for daily news, deputy editor for news in local, nation and world sections as well as special projects for the Sunday edition, deputy editor for community involving three bureaus covering 31 cities, and topic editor for cities. During his career at the Register, Light was part of the staff honored with an investigative reporting Pulitzer Prize in 1996, and he supervised Pulitzer finalists in explanatory journalism in 2004 and public service in 2005. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and a Master in Business Administration from the University of California at Irvine.

Email:
Phone: (714) 796-6097

Randy Lilleston was heavily involved in Hurricane Katrina coverage, as well as the editing of 2004 election news, at USA Today, where he is currently rewrite/continuous news desk editor. In this position, he considers himself an ambassador to print editors and online producers and editors, helping to bring their efforts together. Earlier political work included editor of CNN.com’s allpolitics.com, which won a “People’s Choice” Webby award as best political Web site in 2000. While Lilleston was editor of Congressional Quarterly’s Politics for Pros, it won the 1998 best non-print magazine Ozzie award for magazine design, and under his editorship of Congressional Quarterly’s American Voter, the Interactive Industry Association named it best consumer Web site in 1996. Lilleston first came to Washington in 1990 to cover the federal government for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He earned a Bachelor of Science in journalism from the University of Central Missouri.

Email:
Phone: (703) 854-8047

Mary MacVean is currently morning editor/Web deputy for Metro section of the Los Angeles Times, where she has worked for seven years. Her positions there were copy editor and extended news desk editor before this job. Previously, MacVean was lifestyles editor for Moscow Times in Moscow, Russia. She also had a 10-year stint with Associated Press as reporter, national editor and food writer. Holder of a Bachelor of Arts from Boston College and a graduate degree from Columbia University, she had a Pulitzer fellowship while at Columbia.

Email:
Phone: (213) 237-6739

Vikki Migoya is breaking news editor for the Denver Post, a new position to provide the newspaper’s online audience with targeted content. She was promoted from assistant city editor, a job she held for four years. Before joining the Post, Migoya worked on the copy desk and was night city editor for the Rocky Mountain News. Earlier, she was assistant news editor at the Detroit Free Press. Migoya is a graduate of University of Maryland with English and history degrees and has completed coursework for a Master’s degree in journalism from University of Iowa.

Email:
Phone: (303) 954-1577

Mike Miller presents and explains worldwide sports experiences from Olympics to World Cup as senior sports editor for MSNBC.com, a job he has held for four years. Winner of an MSNBC.com Peacock award as outstanding employee for second quarter 2006, he was also a summer Olympics producer and sports intern for MSNBC.com in 2000. Between the stints at MSNBC, Miller worked for Osawatomie (Kan.) Graphic and Lawrence (Kan.) Journal-World, and was cited by the Kansas Press Association for outstanding sports writing and photography in 2002. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kansas where he won the school’s Don Pierce sports writing award.

Email:
Phone: (425) 703-5763

Paige Newman is movies/music/celebrities editor for MSNBC.com, a responsibility she has held for four years. Earlier at MSNBC.com, she was interactive producer. Newman previously worked as a freelance Web developer and copy editor for Peterson Publishing. Between the latter two jobs, she was a graduate teaching fellow at the University of Oregon, where she supervised a creative writing program while earning a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing. Newman’s undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Arts with honors in English from University of California, Santa Cruz.

Email:
Phone: (425) 703-1623

Niketa Patel is online content producer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Prior to her two years at the Journal-Constitution, she was online producer at the Florida Times-Union where she was named employee of the month in 2005. Earlier, Patel was interactive content coordinator at Media General, winning a company citation in 2003 for Hurricane Isabel reporting. She holds a mass communication degree from Francis Marion University in South Carolina and a certificate in performing arts from City of Westminster College, London.

Email:
Phone: (404) 526-2545

Brian Todd is Web editor for the Detroit Free Press where he has worked since interning at the newspaper in 2000. He was also a Web intern at the Midland Daily News and served as assistant Web manager at Central Michigan LIFE while in college. Todd’s attraction to technology extends to video games, leading to video game reviews for the Detroit Free Press Game On! Sunday section. He earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems from University of Detroit Mercy.

Email:
Phone: (313) 223-4786

Heesun Wee focuses on programming content for the finance section as a senior producer at Yahoo! where she has worked since 2005. Her experiments in user generated content (UGC) and digital storytelling include a profile of a 16-year-old homeless girl in Venice, Calif., and “Woodstock for capitalists” about the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting. Before joining Yahoo!, Wee covered energy and the oil markets for Bloomberg News and Business Week Online. Earlier, she was a producer at ABCNews.com. Wee graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelor of Arts in English literature.

Email:
Phone: (310) 907-3039

James Willhite is interactive news reader at the Wall Street Journal Online, where he edits and publishes WSJ.com and contributes to enterprise projects. He has written for the MarketBeat and Real Time Economics blogs, as well as Stock Watch articles for the Markets section of WSJ.com. Prior to the Wall Street Journal job, Willhite worked at both NBC Universal’s iVillage and The New York Times while completing his graduate degree. At iVillage, he was senior producer for Hearst Magazine Group, in charge of content development and maintenance for www.housebeautiful.com, www.townandcountrymag.com, www.esquire.com, www.hearst.com and the Hearst employee news site. For The New York Times, Willhite was an on-call reporter for the Metro desk covering breaking news in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx on a freelance basis. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy and English from the University of Michigan and a Master of Science from Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism.

Email:
Phone: (212) 416-4109

Emily Williams has worked in online community for the past dozen years, and currently heads Community as senior manager for Topix.com, a Palo Alto-based online news aggregator. In addition to corralling 75k user generated comments every day, she oversees more than 2,500 user/editors who are making news using Topix's editing platform. She earned a B.S. in biology with concentration in entomology from San Jose State University.

Email:
Phone: 408-375-9982