You know our reporters by the stories they write and our photographers by the pictures they take. We put their names next to their work for the world to see.
There is another layer of people who run our newsroom — the editors who work with reporters and photographers to tell the stories. While you may not know our editors by name, you see the results of their work every day in the Beacon Journal and on Ohio.com.
Here is a look into our newsroom through the work of our editors.
Editor, Bruce Winges — I have overall responsibility for the Beacon Journal’s news operation, which produces award-winning journalism for the daily paper, our website Ohio.com and for our popular mobile phone app. We have reporters, photographers, assigning editors, copy editors (they write the headlines), news editors (they design the pages) and support staff.
I am a native of Louisville, Ky., and live in Cuyahoga Falls.
Years at the Beacon: 34.
Education: University of Kentucky.
In my free time I am an amateur photographer, edit the Cuyahoga Valley National Park calendar and walk my dog on the Towpath in the Valley almost every weekend.
Managing editor, Doug Oplinger — Doug works closely with the editors and reporters to shape our news report daily and over the long term. During this election year, he has concentrated on our political coverage. He is leading a statewide effort called “Your Vote, Ohio” that is reporting on the political issues that you have told us are important.
Doug is a native of Springfield Township who lives in Green.
Years at the Beacon: 45.
Education: University of Akron, Northwestern University.
In his free time, Doug maintains a century home, is a recovering Ohio State band parent, active in his Methodist church and an Eagle Scout.
Editorial page editor, Michael Douglas — Michael is responsible for the editorial and opinion pages. It is on these pages that the Beacon Journal offers its view of the world through editorials, allows readers to share their opinions though letters to the editor and offers a diversity of political columnists. Editorial writers work independent of the newsroom to maintain a separation of opinion and news stories.
Michael is a native of Seattle, Wash., who lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: 33.
Education: Georgetown University.
In his free time, Michael reads a lot, follows the Cavs religiously and plays golf.
Director of photography and graphics, Kimberly Barth — Kim directs our photographers as they show you the world through still images and videography. She also oversees the graphic artists who create the visuals that help tell stories. Her's is a juggling act, directing photographers to breaking news events while working with the public to identify times of availability for photo shoots. She endeavors to ensure we have ample photos for each section of the daily paper and even more images for Ohio.com.
Kim is a native of Cleveland who lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: 19.
Education: Ohio State University.
In her free time Kim sings barbershop with the Sweet Adelines, plays guitar with the Family of Faith praise band and enjoys the outdoors.
Metro editor, Cheryl Powell — You may remember Cheryl as our medical writer for many years. Now she is in charge of the reporters who cover an array of local stories, including government, suburbs, education, courts, police, environment and anything of general interest in our city and region. The business writers also report to the metro editor. Two deputy editors work with Cheryl on the metro desk.
Cheryl is a native of Twinsburg who lives in Stow.
Years at the Beacon: 19.
Education: Kent State University.
In her free time Cheryl is an avid sports fan and enjoys reading and spending time with her family and her schnoodle, Sir Winston.
Deputy metro editor, Joe Thomas — Joe is one of two editors directing the metro desk with Cheryl. As an assigning editor he works with reporters to develop stories and is the first person to read a story once they have been turned in by a reporter. He takes the lead in defining our daily business news section.
Joe is a native of Akron who lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: Joe started his career as a student, taking scores at night for the sports department. He has been at the Beacon 18 years as a full-time editor.
Education: Kent State University.
In his free time, our Joe Thomas DOES NOT play for the Browns, but is an active father of four who plays the harmonica, enjoys the outdoors and, we are told, is an entertainer at family gatherings.
Deputy metro editor, Yuvonne Bruce — Yuvonne is also an editor who runs the metro desk with Cheryl. Yuvonne has worked as a reporter, copy editor and an entertainment editor responsible for the Channels television guide and Enjoy! magazine during her time at the Beacon Journal. She works with reporters and takes turns with Joe working nights to finish assembling the paper and helps Cheryl plan weekend coverage.
Yuvonne is a native of Steubenville who grew up on Army bases all over world who now lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: 32.
Education: University of Akron.
In her free time, Yuvonne spends time with her large extended family (seven brothers and sisters, more than 25 nieces and nephews), reads, is an avid television and movie watcher and loves to dance, sing and listen to all kinds of music.
Features editor, Lynne Sherwin — Lynne is the editor responsible for the weekly Food, Enjoy! and Saturday and Sunday Life sections. These sections speak to a variety of lifestyle interests, from places to eat to the arts to popular culture to how you spend your time at home and during the weekends.
Lynne is a native of Erie, Pa., who lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: 21.
Education: St. Bonaventure University.
In her free time, Lynne is a master at trivia (she is a Jeopardy! champion), a wine and food connoisseur, gardener, avid reader and a lover of music and performing arts.
Deputy features editor, Craig Webb — Craig’s primary area of responsibility is the Thursday Enjoy! section. When Craig is not editing, he is writing feature stories that appear throughout our news products.
Craig is a native of Conneaut who lives in Medina City.
Years at the Beacon: 16.
Education: Kent State University.
In his free time Craig chases his five children, yellow Lab and cat, is active in St. Francis Xavier Parish and is studying for his master’s degree.
Sports editor, Scot Fagerstrom — Scot is responsible for the wide swath of the Beacon Journal’s sports coverage. That includes everything from amateurs to high schools to the colleges to the professional teams in Akron and Cleveland. Sports is a department with a lot of moving parts. On any given day, our sports reporters can be as far away as California covering the Cavs at Golden State and as close as Canal Park and the University of Akron.
Scot is a native of Ashtabula who lives in Northfield.
Years at the Beacon: 19.
Education: Ohio State University.
In his free time Scot likes to golf, listen to music and walk his three dogs. When he is not editing sports stories, Scot likes to go to the games.
Deputy sports editor, Rich Stallsmith — Rich, who for many years designed pages for the newspaper, runs the sports department with Scot. In addition to keeping track of the reporters, sports also has an army of part-timers who produce all of the local box scores and agate in the section.
Rich is a native of Salem, Ohio, who lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: 18.
Education: College of Wooster.
In his free time, Rich hikes with his three sons (including a trek to the bottom of the Grand Canyon last year) and walks to work when it’s sunny.
Executive news editor, Mark Turner — You see Mark’s work on the front of the Beacon Journal most days. In addition to designing our most prominent page and first section, Mark supervises the news desk staff, which is responsible for deciding where to put stories and photos and how big to make the headlines in each of our sections.
Mark is a native of Jonesboro, La., who lives in Akron.
Years at the Beacon: 18.
Education: Louisiana Tech University.
In his spare time, Mark teaches at Kent State University where his students learn the proper pronunciation of “y’all.”
Copy desk chief, Kim Drezdzon — Copy editors write the words that draw you into the stories — the headlines — and they serve as our last check for accuracy and clarity. Every story written locally is first edited by an assigning editor. Although it may quickly go to the web as a breaking news story, it also must pass through the copy desk for that final read. Copy editors then summarize those stories in headlines.
Kim is a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., who lives in Copley Township.
Years at the Beacon: 28.
Education: Purdue University.
In her free time, Kim takes care of her Shetland sheepdog and reads.
Bruce Winges is editor of the Akron Beacon Journal. He may be reached at 330-996-3858, bwinges@thebeaconjournal.com or @BruceWingesABJ .