Fitzhugh-Craig Joins The Public Press as News Editor

Michelle Fitzhugh-Craig, the former city editor of the Oakland Tribune, is joining The Public Press as news editor.

As the project's first editorial appointment, Fitzhugh-Craig will coordinate a growing pool of volunteer and freelance journalists who have converged to bring important and under-covered news stories to broad audiences in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Fitzhugh-Craig has experience working at four daily newspapers in Arizona and California over 12 years, as a reporter and editor. Before going to the Tribune she was assistant city editor at the San Mateo County Times, and before that a reporter the Tri-Valley Herald.

Originally she hails from Arizona, where she was a reporter for The Arizona Republic and started shades Magazine, an online publication celebrating and promoting women of color. Currently she is a columnist with The Globe Newspapers, a weekly in the East Bay. She also edits part time for The Western Edition, a neighborhood paper in San Francisco.

She has served as vice president of print for the Bay Area Black Journalists Association for three years.

"From the moment I heard about The Public Press I knew I needed to be a part of it," Fitzhugh-Craig said. "During these uncertain times in journalism, it is crucial that we get back to why we are all here: to produce solid, unbiased and well-researched stories that make a difference in people's lives."

Volunteers and allies are invited to meet Fitzhugh-Craig at the next Public Press monthly organizing meeting: Saturday, Feb. 28, 2009, 10:30 a.m. at the organization's offices, 300 Broadway at Sansome, suite 25. RSVP at: volunteer [AT] public-press.org.