Summary
I have spent 18 years in metro newsrooms, the last 6 as managing editor of a daily with a 40-person desk. My teams filed roughly 5,200 stories a year and missed 2 print deadlines in that entire stretch, both weather related. I edit fast, hire carefully, and still read the corrections column first.
Career Wire
Managing Editor
The Lakefront Courier, Chicago · 2020–Present
- Run a 40-person desk covering city hall, courts, transit, and 3 suburban bureaus; cut average story turnaround from 9 hours to 5.
- Led the metered paywall relaunch that grew digital subscriptions 31 percent, from 42,000 to 55,000, over 3 years.
- Directed a 14-month investigation into county contract steering that produced 22 stories and 2 resignations.
City Editor
The Lakefront Courier, Chicago · 2015–2020
- Supervised 12 reporters and 3 interns; edited 30 to 40 stories a week on a 2-edition schedule.
- Built the paper's first data desk with 2 hires; its precinct-level election maps drew 480,000 page views in one night.
Metro Reporter, then Assistant City Editor
The Calumet Daily Register, Gary, IN · 2008–2015
- Covered 400+ city council and school board meetings; broke the 2012 water billing story that led to $1.9M in refunds.
- Promoted to assistant city editor in 2013; managed the night desk of 6 through 2 election cycles.
* * *
Honors
Awards Desk · Harlan Prize for Metro Investigative Reporting, 2023, for the county contracts series. Great Lakes Press Guild Editor of the Year, 2021.
Education
B.A., Journalism
Prairie State University, Urbana, IL · 2004–2008
- Editor in chief of the student daily, senior year; circulation 11,000.
Skills In Brief
Line editing under deadline. Newsroom budgeting, up to $4.2M annually. Libel review and pre-publication counsel coordination. FOIA strategy, 200+ requests filed or supervised. CMS migrations (2, both survived). Hiring and union contract administration. Working Spanish.
References
Available on request, or read the archive at padmeamidala.example.com. The clips argue better than the references do.