We have more announcements to share today on our news and community teams.
Cindy Heflin is joining us soon to take on the role of producer-copy editor for the community team, and Juliana Keeping has been hired as a digital journalist to cover the University of Michigan.
Although Cindy will work primarily with community content, she'll also be involved in our news team - an ideal fit considering her varied background in news, features and niche products at The Ann Arbor News.
Since 2001, Cindy has been an assistant metro editor at The News, supervising coverage of K-12 education and Washtenaw County communities, including Saline, Dexter and Chelsea. She also was the editor of The News' health and wellness magazine, Be Healthy.
Before that, Cindy was Connection editor at The News. She has also worked as a copy editor, page designer and reporter at newspapers in Michigan and Indiana.
Cindy, 51, and her husband, Rodger, have two children attending Ann Arbor Schools. They live in Scio Township.
On the community team, Cindy will primarily focus on editing and producing content for areas as varied as food, neighborhoods, books and parenting. She will play a key role in working with our contributors and bloggers.
Juliana, 29, is returning to her hometown after working as a journalist in Chicago and teaching in China.
Juliana grew up in Saline and graduated from Michigan State University. She began her career at The Star (now the Southtown Star) in Chicago's South Suburbs. There, she won a Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism for in-depth reporting and an Illinois Press Association nod for news reporting in 2005 after detailing the way 10 school superintendents used and abused their district-issued credit cards over a one-year period.
More recently, she taught composition and English as a second language at Northeastern University in Qinhuangdao, China. While she was in China, Juliana blogged about her time there, and she now maintains a blog on personal finance and budgeting.
Juliana will bring her experience and strong knowledge of our community to cover U-M, an important topic area on our site.
Where's Tracy Davis?
A State grad who's lived to cover U-M? After covering South Chicago and living in China? Also, Saline is not Ann Arbor -- unless Juliana is returning to Saline. All cool experiences, to be sure -- but not at all qualifications that make me confident when you say she has a "strong knowledge of our community."
A Scio Township resident to cover Ann Arbor neighborhoods? I guess the Connection section means local experience.
Juliana is a talented journalist and a great person. Having worked with her before, I can tell you you're lucky to have her in A2.
Matt,
I think we can agree that you don't need to have attended a university to effectively cover it as a beat reporter. Fresh eyes bring new perspectives. Now, if she went to The Ohio State University - that might be a different story. (Just kidding, of course)
Also I wouldn't discount Juliana's knowledge because she grew up in Saline rather than the city of Ann Arbor proper. She is familiar with the area and as you know, lots of people who live in neighboring communities spend a lot of time in Ann Arbor.
Cindy has lived in this area for many years and her kids attend Ann Arbor schools. She has vast knowledge of our city from her work as an assistant metro editor especially.
Stefanie Murray
Community Director, AnnArbor.com
Ditto what Jeremy Steele said. :) Michigan is lucky to be getting some of its brain drain back from Chicago.
Stefanie: you're right. I'm confident both are excellent reporters, otherwise you wouldn't have hired them. And certainly it's not necessary to have a UM alumni covering the school.
But UM is a huge, convoluted place. It'll take a reporter years to understand even a small section of the bureaucracy, let a lone how different departments are tiered and how research is politicized. I'm worried that until that happens, we'll get rewritten press releases and half-hearted coverage of Regent's Meetings.
In any case, no sense in speculating more before you start posting news.
Matt - all good points - the U is big and complicated and byzantine. I do happen to have a map of the steam tunnels, though, which I will share with any reporter who wants to get the inside story. Ed (UM '88 Econ)
Hi Juliana, I know you will do a great job. Congratulations and good luck to you.