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.

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.  

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.

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.

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.

Originally from Antigua, Lorraine graduated from the University of the Virgin Islands where she studied Humanities with a concentration in journalism. Since then worked for the Antigua Sun Newspaper, the Virgin Islands Daily News and Gatehouse Media New England as a Prepress Pagination Technician. She enjoys poetry, photography and writing and has a Master of Education in arts and learning from Endicott College. She lives in Brockton with her husband and son.



 Mark Snyder has been in radio for over thirty years--starting as a nine year old hosting a local kid's show on a suburban Boston station. At Curry College, he co-founded the school's FM radio station, WMLN-FM 91.5, and served as its first Promotions Director, a DJ, newsman, and sportscaster. After college, he followed that early success with the highly-acclaimed Singles Lifeline Show, which ran on eight radio stations and resulted in over 200 marriages. This culminated in his current Mark Snyder Show--a celebrity interview/entertainment program--that ran on WMSX (1410 am) for almost nine years and since 1998 can be heard on the World Wide Web at www.pmpnetwork.com.

Snyder, a product of Curry College and Marquette University, is currently the senior vice president of Professional Marketing & Promotions Company (PMPCO) and the CEO of PMPNetwork.com, the internet's entertainment superstation, which has recorded over 100 million "hits" since its inception in 1998. His expertise in public relations, marketing and promotions dates back to his first position as Assistant Director of Public Relations and Sports Information at Curry College. Since then, Mark has handled public relations, copywriting, media placement, marketing and promotions for over 85 clients, including food establishments, law firms, medical practices, financial companies, game companies, colleges, and performers. Among those that he gave early publicity to were TV shows like "24", "That 70's Show", and "Ally McBeal".  Artists he helped along the way included Janis Ian, Tiny Tim, Susan Tedeschi, Cheryl Wheeler, Lori McKenna, Suzanne McNeil, and dozens of others.

Mark was honored in the Millennium (2000) issue of Who's Who in America; the 1996 and 1997 editions of Who's Who in the World; the 25th anniversary edition of Who's Who in the East; the 1997 edition of Who's Who in the Media, and was the youngest honoree in Who's Who Among Student's in America's Colleges and Universities (1975 edition). He was also listed in the College Social Register of 1976.

Snyder's poetry has won three national awards, and was published in the Boston Globe. He has written a weekly column for Gatehouse Media New England (Stoughton Journal), "Snyder's Stoughton" for twelve years, and has hosted a popular TV show of the same name on local access for seven years, which can be seen in a number of towns through the facilities of Stoughton Media Access Corp. (SMAC) and Easton Access Access Television (ECAT) on Comcast and Verizon.

Snyder has published four books and has had over 1600 published articles and stories in national, regional and local publications. His second book of poetry, "Feelings" was the best-selling poetry book in Wisconsin in 1977, selling over 16,000 copies. His column, "Snyder's Web", which appeared in 17 publications, has been downloaded by tens of thousands online.

A Randolph native, Mark is an elected official (Precinct 2 Vice Chairman at Stoughton Town Meeting) and retired Vice Chairman of the Finance Committee (serving the full nine year term limit) in his adopted hometown of Stoughton, MA. He is a past chairman of the board of the Neponset Valley Chamber of Commerce, based in Norwood, MA. The Chamber grew from 260 businesses to 950 under his reign as a board member, communications (marketing) director and Chairman. He was honored by former Governor William Weld, the Massachusetts Senate & House, and Senator John Kerry for his work at the Chamber.

Snyder served on the Board of Directors of Stoughton Little League and Stoughton Youth Soccer, and coached for Little League, Babe Ruth Baseball, and STOYAC Basketball. He was the long-time voice of STOYAC Football at Community Field in Stoughton. Snyder was a player on the SSJSL softball team that took the League Championship in 2002, beating undefeated Sharon and Easton teams on the way to the title. He batted .458 in post-season play.

Snyder currently serves as Vice Chairman of the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce, is former chairman of Stoughton's Cable Advisory Committee, and serves on numerous other business and civic organizations' boards, including the ATC Board of Directors, where he serves as Parliamentarian; and Great Hills Homeowners Association Board of Directors, where he serves as Acting President. He has hosted over two dozen fundraisers in Stoughton the past several years, raising over $250,000 for various charities, including local food banks. He has also hosted the past ten Stoughton 4th of July and Christmas Parades. Snyder is a member of the New England Sinai Men's Club and the Stoughton Historical Society. In his "spare" time, you can find him on the cross trainer at Striar Old Colony YMCA in Stoughton, and keeping his fellow residents apprised of local news in www.snydersstoughton.com, a local site that recorded over 25 million "hits" in the past 2 years.

Christine is a vested lifelong Stoughton resident and is happy to be raising her family in the town she loves.

Her education and professional background are in the field of Early Childhood Education. Her positions progressed from teacher to administrator.

Since transitioning to a stay at home mom 3 years ago, she has found many rewarding roles within the
town.

So when she is not enjoying time with her two children, Isabella, 6 and Luciano, 4, she is typically writing or actively working on a community project.

The goal of the opinion column, "Mother Knows Best", is to share candid stories, heartfelt opinions and easy activities that pertain to Stoughton mothers, in all stages of their parenting journey.  (She in no way claims to be an expert and instead feels that parents learn through their gut, trial and error.)

Christine is a published journalist with a previous column Motherhood for Real in local publications.

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.