Matt comes to the Kent Patch after five years in the trenches covering news and events in the city and Kent State University.

His goal as editor of the Kent Patch is to provide its readers with information important to the community — whether that be on-the-spot coverage of a local fire, in-depth reporting on local government or coverage of the music and arts scenes.

Matt will be working closely with a team of freelancers — most of whom are your neighbors — to cover every nuance that is Kent.

This picture is probably one of the last times you'll see him wearing a tie! If you run into Matt around town, introduce yourself and say hi.

Amanda Harnocz is a Cleveland native who recently moved to Summit County in 2010. She graduated from Mercyhurst College in Erie, PA in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in communication/journalism with a minor in political science. After graduation, Amanda was hired at Record Publishing Co. in 2007 to be a reporter for Stow and then Tallmadge, Ohio. 

John Deike's coursework at the Scripps-Howard School of Journalism at Ohio University and hands on experience with several area newspapers has laid the groundwork for his arrival at Patch. Whether it’s breaking news, government coverage, school updates, business features or stories with a human touch, Deike will bring his readers the news they can care about. He’ll go beyond the hearsay and find the facts folks need to make informed decisions. Catch him here weekly. It’s never too late for good news. 

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.

The Twinsburg Patch is Mitch's first crack at professional journalism.  A recent graduate from Kent State University with a degree in broadcast journalism, Mitch has held two great internships with local media.  He spent nearly six months writing and reporting online and over the air for WAKR in Akron.  After that, he spent several months working with WKSU in Kent.  He was a finalist in the 2010 William Randolph Hearst Awards for Television News.

Nikki comes to Patch from the Greene County Dailies, a company that prints small community newspapers for four cities in Greene County, just east of Dayton, Ohio. At the Dailies, Nikki covered everything from crime to features to city government, and she even met Vanilla Ice and Jim Tressel (O-H!) while covering Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Before that, she worked for the Dayton Daily News as an intern and, later, contributor.

In her free time, Nikki loves to read, go to the movies and cook. Oh, and she's a Bears fan – but the Browns are just fine so please don't hold it against her.

Kasha is a 29-year journalist, working as both a reporter and editor for daily newspapers in Conneaut, Mansfield and Kent-Ravenna.

A proud Kent resident, Kasha fell in love with the Kent area in the early 1980s while attending Kent State University. Her husband, Jona Burton, is employed at Kent State, his alma mater, and is a graduate student there. Her son, August Fagerstrom, is a Kent State junior.

Fairlawn-Bath Patch is run Local Editor Debbie Palmer. We aim to bring you all the latest news from Fairlawn and Bath Township.

If you hear about something that you want to know more about, let Debbie know by emailing debbie.palmer@patch.com.

You can also write on the Facebook wall, or Tweet @BathPatch.

Elaine Simon, a native of Mansfield, Ohio, has a degree in journalism from Kent State University. She has worked for a daily newspaper, several hotel trade publications and websites, and completed a variety of other freelance assignments. She now lives in the West Park neighborhood of Cleveland.

Jara spent a fast paced childhood moving state to state. She developed a penchant for writing at a very early age. Some girls played House, Jara wrote murder mysteries after she was gifted with a salvaged antique typewriter. Soon, stacks of short stories replaced her Barbie dolls. It wasn’t a surprise when she became editor of her high school newspaper.

After obtaining her college degree in Liberal Arts, Jara chased her dream by finishing make-up school in Los Angeles. She spent time in California as professional make-up artist. While out west, she dropped her last name in favor of her middle name. As a make-up artist, she found satisfaction in the industry, but wasn’t completely fulfilled and she soon returned to Cleveland. A mere few weeks later an unexpected writing career began.

A last minute entrance in a Valentine’s Day writing contest yielded her first professional published piece. The next day she was offered a writer’s position based on the strength of her winning editorial. Today, she is a contributing writer for Buzzbin, Cleveland Scene, Shop.com, Patch.com and LegalAid.com as well as Business.com. Her portfolio includes art and music reviews as well as several band biographies. She also heads up her own professional copywriting business. 

Jennifer Clayton has been writing professionally since 2001. A
Michigan native, she reported on Michigan state politics and
Detroit-area environmental news for The News Herald in Southgate,
Mich.  Her favorite assignments, however, were covering many of the
cities outside Detroit, and getting to know their residents.  Since
moving to northeast Ohio in 2006, she has enjoyed getting to know its
local communities as well.

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.