Leadership

I feel that there has never been a greater need for local journalism than in this moment when it is also most at risk. I’ve recently witnessed first-hand the effect of the loss of local news coverage in my town of Westbrook, Maine. In just the last year, the downscaling of our local newspaper has been felt dramatically. It’s become harder to keep track of town hall meetings, planning board decisions, even events in Riverbank Park are harder to find out about and judging by lower turnouts and talking to my neighbors, my family is far from the only one experiencing this. How quickly it happens. And the difference between a town with a newspaper sharing timely and useful information, creating a strong sense of community versus a town with only a vague sense of its own goings on and little connection to its citizens? In Westbrook, it can start with one or two reporters sharing the local beat among neighboring towns. That’s what it takes to make a difference. Rebuilding local journalism is a real challenge but a very attainable one that has inspired me to join Erin O’Mara in Journalism New England’s mission to create sustainable models for local news organizations that allow them to thrive, grow, and serve their communities. Important work that has a real impact and is achievable.

I’m believe this because I’ve worked in support of publishing and journalism in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors for over twenty-five years. In support of writers, editors and publishers, I’ve been helping turn the gears in the areas of technology, production and design from books to magazines to newspapers. For seventeen years at Lapham’s Quarterly a non-profit journal of history and ideas founded by Lewis Lapham, the noted journalist and historian, I served as Design and Production Director responsible for all facets of production other than writing and editing. For nine years I served as Technology Director of The Nation magazine, a weekly newspaper with broad national reach and a history that stretches back over 150 years where I was responsible for the technology infrastructure and support of a fifty-person weekly deadline-oriented organization. Through all that time, I’ve also worked on book projects in design and production as a specialist in printing illustrated books. Recent publications include Mixing Up the Medicine, a monograph on the life of Bob Dylan, One Hundred Flowers, a large format book of Georgia O’Keeffe’s paintings, and Get Back, a photographic history of the Beetles published to accompany the release of director Peter Jackson’s documentary of the same name.

Beginning in 1999, I started a long and consistent involvement in non-profit work when I and a group of friends founded Flux Factory, Inc. A place for artists to show their work and live and work collectively in a residency-based setting, Flux Factory celebrates its 26tth birthday as a 501 (c) (3) not-for-profit organization this year.  And since then, I’ve worked with, supported, or otherwise helped non-profits in areas ranging from publishing to global industrial textile recycling to garden conservancy. For the last few years, I have been actively involved as a board member in supporting and fundraising for the L.C. Bates Museum, an extraordinary museum of natural history and culture in Hinckley, Maine that is currently celebrating its centennial.