Piedmont Patch Editor Departs

It was all I could do to hold in an explosion of laughter during the League of Women Voters' discussion on public dialogue earlier this month. Panelist Susan Rasky, who happens to have been my professor at Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism, was speaking the gospel.  

"The local press have the least amount of support. … When you work at The New York Times," she said, having once worked there herself, "you have a great big safety net if you screw up." 

When you're the local editor of Piedmont Patch, you're pretty much on your own. 

Whether it was the , , , or the , since Piedmont Patch launched just over a year ago I've been in the thick of it. 

"Does the press fan the flames a little bit?", moderator Larry Tramutola asked Rasky at the league event. 

"You want to hope that the press doesn't incite false controversy," she said. But, "just the basic job of asking questions … can end up seeming to stir up trouble." 

It has been my great honor, Piedmont, to be your inadvertent troublemaker. You have responded in spades with intelligent comments and inquisitive emails that are a testament to your great commitment to building the community you want to live in.  

So it is not without some sadness that I am leaving Piedmont to take a job as the News Director of WRKF, the NPR member station in Baton Rouge, La.  

If you'd like to keep in touch, you can reach me at jeffries.amy@gmail.com or through LinkedIn. 

Dixie Jordan will be taking over Piedmont Patch for the next couple of weeks, and a new permanent editor will be identified early next year. Don't hesitate to contact her at dixiemjordan@gmail.com, or Regional Editor Alex Gronke at alex.gronke@patch.com, with your suggestions for how they can make some trouble.