William (Bill) Rupp has spent most of his career as a community newspaper editor and reporter in Rhode Island and Pennsylvania, including stints as managing editor and news editor at the Woonsocket Call and the Pawtucket Times and editor of the weekly Warren Times-Gazette. He has been the recipient of and has led editorial staffs that have been honored with awards from press associations in Rhode Island, New England, and Pennsylvania and the Suburban Newspapers of America. He holds M.A. and B.A. degrees in journalism from Pennsylvania State University and has studied holistic counseling at Salve Regina University. He and his wife, Cyndy, have a blended family with three grown daughters and two grown sons. Reading thriller and mystery books, writing, home renovation projects, and personal fitness take up most of his spare time.

Joe grew up in Johnston, and graduated from Johnston High School. After high school, he attended Rhode Island College and earned a bachelor's degree in English, then went into professional journalism with the Kent County Daily Times in West Warwick. After stints in Hopkinton and East Greenwich, Joe served as Editor of The Cranston Herald.

In later employment, Joe worked in nonprofit administration, youth programs, and education, before returning to journalism with JohnstonPatch in December, 2010.

Joe headed up the launch of SmithfieldPatch in September, 2012, and works as Editor for both sites.

A native of East Bridgewater and a graduate of University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, I have been a full time journalist since I was 19 and a sports writer for the New Bedford Standard-Times. My work has appeared in several dailies, including the Boston Globe, MetroWest Daily News, Sun Chronicle, Brockton Enterprise and Patriot-Ledger, and weeklies in Massachusetts as both a news and sports editor-writer. I have also been honored by the New England Press Association and the Massachusetts Press Association along with winning national awards.

Matt is an Associate Regional Editor for Patch.com. Prior to his time with Patch, Matt worked as a reporter for The Enterprise in Brockton and the Daily News Tribune in Waltham. Later, he served as an assistant editor for print and online publications covering business and technology. He launched Westwood Patch as a Local Editor in June 2010 and ran the site until July 2012. He now works with local editors in several Patch towns in Southeastern Massachusetts. In his spare time, Matt is an avid reader and occasionally blogs about books, reading, publishing and writing. 

Jeffrey grew up in Stoughton, going to the South Elementary School and O'Donnell Middle School before graduating from Stoughton High in 2006.  He graduated from Brandeis University in Waltham in May of 2010.  At Brandeis, Jeffrey covered the Brandeis athletic teams for the school's paper, The Justice, and was a part of the basketball broadcast team for the school's radio station, WBRS.  During the last two years of college, he was also a staff writer for the Canton Citizen newspaper, covering news, sports and human interest stories.  As a senior in high school, he was editor-in-chief of the SHS Knight, Stoughton High's newspaper.  

After spending 2009 and 2010 working on political campaigns around Massachusetts and Rhode Island, Dan began writing for a local sports blog called Noontime Sports run by Patch correspondent Matt Noonan. Soon that led to my first jobs as a freelancer for the Foxborough Patch in February 2011. In October 2011, I became a regular freelancer for the Wrentham and the Norton Patch. I have written on everything from the Foxborough casino issue to high school sports to school committee meetings. In his spare time, Dan enjoys playing sports and catching up with friends, running, and reading comics.

Jeremie Smith has lived in four states but has always called Massachusetts "home." He received his Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Keene State College in New Hampshire and has been working professionally in the field ever since. He has been a news editor and sports editor for daily newspapers in Connecticut as well as a managing editor for a weekly newspaper in the Nutmeg State. While at Keene State, he served as both a sports reporter and editor for the student newspaper, The Equinox. Jeremie is a Boston sports fanatic and enjoys the deep history and strong sense of community many New England towns like Foxborough have.

Jeff graduated from The University of Rhode Island with a double major in history and journalism. While there, he wrote and edited for the university's student newspaper, The Good Five Cent Cigar. Prior to his time as a local editor with Patch, worked as a freelancer for Sudbury and Wrentham Patch in the fall of 2010, and learned firsthand the methods and modes of Patch.com. At the same time, he wrote for Somerville News as well as other publications.

Tamara was born and raised in Staten Island, New York, but anyone will be surprised to learn that she has always been a hard-core Boston Bruins fan, and she was excited to get her Masters in Broadcast Journalism at Emerson College and witness the big Stanely Cup win at the same time. She holds more than six years of experience working in radio, newspapers, and television stations in New York and Massachusetts.

Jonathan Friedman grew up in South Florida and has a broadcast journalism degree from Ithaca College. 

Pat graduated from the University of Delaware in 2010 with a degree in Political Science and Journalism. While at Delaware, Pat worked as the Managing Sports Editor for UD's student newspaper, The Review. He also interned at Delaware Today, a lifestyle magazine in Wilmington, Del., and he wrote sports for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Kelly graduated from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth in 2006 with a degree in English with a concentration in communications and rhetoric. While at UMass, Kelly contributed to Temper Magazine, and took a journalism course at the Standard Times. After graduation, Kelly was hired as editorial assistant for GateHouse Media, a community newspaper company. In addition to her journalism background, Kelly has also written several theater reviews for SOCO Magazine, a south coast Massachusetts oriented publication. In her spare time, Kelly enjoys reading, kayaking and doing other outdoor activities.

Bret Silverberg graduated from Northeastern University's School of Journalism's graduate program in August 2010. Prior to that, Bret was the editor for the Needham Hometown Weekly Newspaper from 2006 to 2008. He took some time off from journalism to try his hand at a career in music for the next two years. After making one record and setting out for multple U.S. tours, he decided it was time to jump back into journalism. Bret freelanced heavily for the Jewish Advocate, Needham Patch (along with several other area Patches), and numerous other publications throughout 2009 and early 2010 while earning his Master's degree. Though he is fully invested in the world of journalism, he still likes to pick up a guitar from time to time. 

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.

Kerri Dale lives in the greater Boston area with her husband and two children. After being a stay at home mom for 16 years she is very excited to be a part of Patch. She enjoys spending time with her family, boating and jetskiing.

Elizabeth (Beth) Meigs grew up in Brewster, MA; graduating from Cape Cod Regional Technical High School in 1978. She lives in Chatham with a big, fluffy Bernese Mountain Dog named Sammy and a fiesty but lovable Maine Coon Cat-mix named Triton.   She has two adult daughters and six grandchildren.

Beth is an avid reader, gardener and hiker.  She has worked on or around boats most her life, but she is a long-time closet novelist.  It has been her dream to write for a living ever since she was a child, pounding out stories on a cheap typewriter. 

She looks forward to creating an interesting and informative Calendar and composing the Get Out Weekend Planner columns for Patch.  (P.S. She upgraded from the cheap typewriter a long time ago.)



Catherine Doneghy, please call her Katie, grew up North of Boston in a small town known for its singing beach, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Massachusetts. Trekking to Vermont for education (and skiing) granted her a degree in History and minor in Business from the University of Vermont. A passion for small business initiatives and cutting edge technology has brought her to start-ups in the food world and the educational travel industry where her drive for results and communication skills have made her a treasure!

Katie joined the Patch team as an Advertising Manager covering Hingham, Braintree, Canton and Plymouth to shake things up. Katie now covers many of the MetroWest Patch sites. She is a localvore - this mentality goes beyond what she puts in her pie hole. She wants to get to know YOU, come to your events, support your business and teach you how to get everything you can and want out of your Patch.

Drop her a line!

617-470-1886

catherine.doneghy@patch.com

P.S. I like raspberry jelly on my grilled cheese. My hero is Ernest Shakleton. If you don't know who he is; look him up and get inspired! I love the outdoors and getting back to nature.

Michelle is the Regional Publisher for Massachusetts' South Shore, Cape Cod, and the Islands, where she delivers an awesome vehicle for local businesses to reach-out to their communities.  Michelle is a Milton resident, grew up in West Roxbury and graduated from Boston Latin School and Boston College.  After a brief (and interesting!) stint selling cars on Rte. 1 The Automile, Michelle spent most of her career working in magazine advertising sales in New York City at Vogue, The Conde Nast Bridal Group, The Robb Report, and More magazines. After returning home to Boston, she managed a sales team at Phoenix Media/Communications Group . Michelle enjoys skiing, hobbling through marathons, going to concerts, and  foodies-in-training dinners with friends and family.

Email: Tony.Catinella@patch.com
Phone: 781-502-5448
Birthday: November 13, 1986

I grew up on the South Shore with a strong passion for journalism. I graduated from Franklin Pierce University  with a Bachelor's Degree in Communications and today I currently live in Quincy.

At Franklin Pierce, I worked on the school newspaper as  a reporter , sports editor, managing editor and became the editor in chief during my senior year.

While in college, I interned for the Boston Bruins, writing newsletters for the team's website and interned for Jam'n 94.5 FM as a web intern. I have  held a production internship with ESPN during the 2007  NASCAR Sylvania 300.   I have also reported for the Patriot Ledger, the Canton Citizen, the Ven-U New England Magazine, and got the opportunity to interview the first person in America to vote when I covered the 2008 President Elections for Dan Rather Reports HD TV station. 

I'm very excited to learn as much as I can about Hingham and Weymouth and report on stories that are important to residents.  With Patch, I plan to highlight the community of Hingham and Weymouth, the people and their stories.

When I'm not writing, I love watching sports and going for a relaxing run. I enjoy meeting new people, so please feel free to stop me and say hello.

Your Beliefs
At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know.

Politics 
How would you describe your political beliefs?
Are you registered with a certain party?

Independent 

Religion

I'm Catholic. 

Local Hot-Button Issues

In Hingham: the Hingham Middle School Project, Harbor Devolpment, the MBTA Hingham to Boston ferry service.

In Weymouth: The Southfield Development and the increase of drug arrests.

Joe came to the Braintree Patch by way of editing technology websites and freelancing for Patch. He also completed stints at several newspapers through graduate and undergraduate programs at Boston University and the University of Rhode Island. He grew up in Middletown, RI and moved to Quincy in 2008. Click on his name for more about Joe.

Adam comes to Patch as a newly-minted Massachusetts resident after spending time in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Including his college newspaper and a hometown weekly, Adam has been working as a journalist since 2005. He has covered nearly every facet of the community for two award-winning publications and has earned a pair of Pennsylvania Press Association awards.

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.