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I’m thrilled to welcome former longtime Marblehead Reporter editor Chris Stevens to the Marblehead Independent family.
Chris will be contributing mostly feature stories — like her recent piece on Marblehead’s photojournalists — along with general news coverage. She also runs Gotta Know Medford and, like me, contributes to Winchester News.
For those who may not know her, Chris is a first-rate journalist and editor with deep ties to North Shore community news. Before she served as editor of the Marblehead Reporter, she covered Lynn for many years at The Daily Item and has written for local outlets across the region. She brings not only newsroom leadership but also a knack for multimedia storytelling, photography and even food writing — she once penned a weekly column called “Side Dish" (She is also my former boss.)
Beyond her reporting, Chris enjoys cooking, reading, crossword puzzles and seaside life. She lives with her husband, Rich, and their two cats, Jill and their newest addition, Whiskey, on Little Nahant.
Yesterday, Chris and I attended the New England Newsrooms meeting at Boston University’s College of Communication, where we joined other local editors and reporters for a full day of speakers and workshops. We sat in sessions on fundraising for local news, telling your story and reaching audiences and using analytics to grow readership.
The keynote speaker, Ken Doctor, founder of Lookout Local, shared insights on launching and sustaining new community newsrooms. It was a powerful reminder that we’re not alone in this work — there’s a growing network of journalists across New England building the future of local news.
I’m so excited to have Chris on board, and I know you’ll enjoy her storytelling as much as I do.
Cheers,
Will Dowd
Editor and founder
The Marblehead Independent
