Prior to my arrival at The DNJ, my predecessor, Jimmy Hart, spent quite a lot of time on a content evolution plan.
The goal was to identify key topics to the community – passion topics – and organize coverage around those topics. You look at the plan and you can see Jimmy put a lot of thought and time into it.
Two topics that made the list were families and faith, so as we began to restructure our newsroom, it made sense that one of the teams would be the Families and Faith team.
Recent first place award winners, according to the Tennessee Press Association. From left are Content Director Sandee Suitt, Families and Faith Team Leader Mealand Ragland-Hudgins and Journalist Nancy DeGennaro.
This team’s leader is Mealand Ragland-Hudgins, who has been at The Daily News Journal for some ten years or so. Her specific area of coverage is families, but not the soft stuff. She’ll take you inside the classrooms and provide coverage of issues ranging from daycare to aging, health care to finances, and just about everything in between. Mealand is a frequent press association award winner, recently taking first place in education coverage in the Tennessee Press Association’s contest.
Joining her is veteran newswoman Nancy DeGennaro. She was hired here at The DNJ in 1995, and has seen so much. She is covering religion and non-profits, but again from more of an issues oriented view point. Nancy, too, is an award-winner, recently taking first place in the Tennessee Press Association for best single feature. Look deep enough and you’ll also find a prestigious Malcolm Law award for investigative journalism in her past.
We have a third position to fill and are searching for the right person for it.
This team has a very important role. They cover the everyday things that have the most impact on your lives – church, what’s happening in the classroom, healthcare, how to care for preschoolers, how to care for aging parents, and the wide range of other issues families are dealing with on a daily basis.