I got my start in news writing during high school, when I wrote a weekly student column for my hometown newspaper. I majored in English and Environmental Studies at St. Olaf College, became an editor for the college newspaper and started freelance writing on the side. In my three and a half years as a reporter, I have won several awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association, including "Best New Journalist of the Year" in 2008.

Zac Farber is an Assistant Local Editor for the Southeast region of the Twin Cities. He is a graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul.

I live in Whittier, Minneapolis with ten fish, five bicycles, four computers, one Wusthof knife, and one ever-tolerant partner. I like to hang out in coffee shops in the afternoons, and every week I host "office hours" at a rotating list of Southwest's coffee houses.

Clare Kennedy is a third-generation journalist from Tampa, FL. She holds a Bachelor's Degree in English from St. Olaf College. During her career, she has worked at three daily newspapers. She joined the Patch team on May 2, 2011.

I'm a journalist who has concentrated on business reporting for many years.  I most recently came from Finance & Commerce business newspaper in Minneapolis. Prior to that I worked at the Sioux Falls Argus Leader for a year.  I worked nearly 30 years at the St Paul Pioneer Press covering government and business. I am an honors graduate from the University of Minnesota with a bachelor’s degree in journalism, I also graduated from the William Mitchell College of Law in St. Paul, I grew up in North St. Paul and am a graduate of North High SchooI.   I've been living New Brighton with my wife for about the past 20 years. We have two grown children. 

I am the Community Editor for sites in Minnesota and Wisconsin. I handle blogger recruitment, social media, community outreach and training for 11 sites in the Twin Cities area. I also contribute content to the sites.

Stefanie Briggs is a newspaper community editor and reporter who has covered community news throughout the metro and in North Dakota for the past eight years.

She is a graduate of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter with a Bachelor’s of Art degree in Communications Studies and minor in English Literature.  

Stefanie grew up in Crystal and attended schools in the Robbinsdale School District.

She currently lives in Plymouth with her husband Beau.

Stefanie joined Patch in July 2011.

I am a freelance journalist who has written for a variety of online and print publications over the past decade. I love the process of finding out someone's story and then conveying that story to readers with pictures and words.

I am a new transplant to Minnesota, moving here from central Nebraska in August 2012. I have lived in Kansas, Colorado, and Nebraska. It's a new adventure to move up North! We've got the snowblower ready and waiting.

Keighla is a freelance journalist bringing years of professional experience as a community newspaper reporter and photographer.

Her street cred includes a a bachelor's degree in journalism and international studies, a small business owner and passionate writer and photographer.

Troy Thompson is a professional writer, author and freelance journalist who has recently transplanted to the Lakeville community. A native of Minneapolis/St. Paul, he has previously worked for the Rochester Post-Bulletin and Faribault Daily News. In addition to Patch.com, his work has appeared on USAToday.com as well as other online properties, print magazines and publications. 

When not writing, he can usually be found enjoying the great Minnesota outdoors in some remote location, enjoying music or creating some kind of crazy dish out of whatever ingredients can be found in the kitchen.

I love movies that make me cry, music that helps me remember the good times and good food that isn't necessarily good for me.

I'm a longtime and award-winning journalist who has been at this stuff for more than 30 years, primarily on weekly and small daily papers in Iowa, Oregon and Minnesota. In my journalism career I've been a sports writer, sports editor, reporter, photographer, news editor, features writer, restaurant and movie reviewer and columnist, among other jobs I've forgotten. Since 2001, I've been a freelance writer and photographer in the Twin Cities and worked for a wide variety of area, regional and national publications. My journalistic passions are pretty evenly divided between writing and photography. I've interviewed people ranging from presidents and archbishops to grave diggers and dog catchers.

Ariel Emery Butler is project coordinator for the Northfield History Collaborative. As a mom, she also blogs at The Scrappy Homemaker. 

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.