David Ertischek was most recently the editor of the West Roxbury and Roslindale Transcripts for about a year before launching West Roxbury Patch. Prior to that he was the editor of local paper in Watertown for a year, and was a reporter/assistant editor/sports editor for the Transcripts for several years before his Watertown gig. 

Becca Manning came to Patch from a small family-run publishing company on the South Shore where she was the editor of a weekly newspaper in Pembroke, MA. Before that, she worked for several years as the education and government reporter for the Piqua Daily Call in Piqua, OH, not far from her hometown. She has a bachelor's of science in journalism from Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism with an environmental studies certificate. When not covering the town of Charlestown, Becca writes fiction, enjoys reading, spends time at the beach and tries not to burn down the kitchen when she cooks.

Cate is the editor of Mill Valley Patch, and has worked as a reporter at newspapers across New England. She joined Patch in Boston in 2010 and recently transferred to the San Francisco Bay area. She graduated from Saint Michael's College in Vermont with a degree in journalism and minor in Spanish.

I joined Patch in July 2010 and was founding editor of Jamaica Plain Patch in Boston. I now manage 11 Patch sites on the North Shore. I have 17 years of experience at newspapers as an editor and reporter. I live on Buffum Street in Salem with my wife, Jane; our dog, Molly; and two cats: Sophie and Carlos.

Andrew Jeromski is a freelance writer based in Boston, Massachusetts. He has been covering sports at all levels from high school to professional since 2001. His work has appeared in numerous publications such as Sports Illustrated, Yahoo! Sports and a variety of local newspapers.

Jonathan Pickering is a 27-year-old freelance writer living in Medford, MA. Jon was born and raised in Winchester and attended Emerson College where he got his BFA in writing, literature in publishing in 2007. Jon is excited about being able to cover his home town and expand his writing career. Jon has come to enjoy cats. For more on Jon, along with more of his writing, please visit his blog.

Shannon Reidy Boston Senior Advertising Manager for Patch.com shannon.reidy@patch.com 857-498-3272

Grant began his interest in broadcast journalism when he was in high school after volunteering with a local television station in Northern Virginia.  During his college days, Grant was a reporter for Boston University Television's Inside Boston, a student-run news show.  He also worked for Kitay Productions at the Agganis Arena in Boston doing video production during sports events.

This past spring, Grant was an intern at WGBH (PBS) as the Antiques Roadshow Web Intern.  He has also interned with Public Synergies and Rpublictv in Asnières-Sur-Seine, France (a suburb of Paris).  Through this internship, Grant produced a variety of  projects including multimedia presentations for a convention.  He was also given the opportunity to see how the industry operates outside North America.

Karen Fabian is a Certified Baptiste Yoga teacher and is an Experienced Registered Yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance, the national Registry of Yoga Teachers. She has been teaching yoga since 2002 and lives in Charlestown. Karen has a wealth of business experience, having held a variety of corporate positions in the health care, insurance and software industries for twenty-plus years. Karen has her Master's in Health Care Administration and her undergraduate degree from Boston University in Rehab Counseling. Karen has taught yoga as both a full time and part time endeavor, working it as part of her life on the side, while working full time and has also worked full time as a yoga teacher while employed with the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute. In 2009, Karen started her own company called Bare Bones Yoga, which is dedicated to offering yoga in creative ways, both in studios and in other settings. Karen teaches yoga to adults and kids, teaching in studios, colleges, homes, schools, corporations and small businesses as well as privately. Karen runs Women's Wellness Groups focused on connecting women in small groups to not only practice yoga together but to share information, tips and ideas around improving the health and wellness of the participants. Karen writes a regular blog on wellness, partners with non-profits to provide yoga and other wellness related services and lectures on wellness at organizations and private groups. Her website is www.barebonesyoga.com. Her column, Under Our Feet, is meant to focus on local resources for wellness and overall information about health and wellness. 

Helen grew up in Charlestown, went to St Francis de Sales Grammar school, swam on the swim team, was a long-time member of the Girls' Club and had a fantastic neighborhood on Pearl Street.

After graduating from Girls' Latin School, she moved to New York City, spent a few months in Dublin  and ultimately moved to Los Angeles, where she lived for almost 30 years. After graduating from Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles, Helen became an English teacher and a writer. Now she's back in her hometown and thrilled to be contributing to Charlestown Patch.

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.