First "reporter hosts" join Peer News

The staff of Peer News is starting to take shape. Last week I announced that Sara Lin of The Wall Street Journal will be joining the new Honolulu-based news service as assistant editor.

Today it’s my pleasure to announce the names of the first people who’ll be joining the service as “reporter and host.” Yes, you read that correctly. The job profile for reporters at Peer News includes the role of host, reflecting our commitment to community engagement as a central part of the reporters’ role.

Joining Peer News (in alphabetical order) will be:

Chad Blair, currently a reporter with Pacific Business News in Honolulu. Chad has a Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Hawaii. He is the author of Money, Color & Sex in Hawai’i Politics and has also worked as a reporter for Hawaii Public Radio and the Honolulu Weekly. Chad was a Racial Justice Fellow in 2005-2006 at the Institute for Justice and Journalism at the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Southern California. Chad has extensive experience as a teacher, having worked at the University of Hawaii, Chaminade University, Hawaii Pacific University and Honolulu Community College.

Noelle Chun, currently social media coordinator for Ashoka’s Changemakers in Washington, D.C. For Noelle, Peer News will be a return to the community where she grew up. Noelle is a graduate of Punahou School, where she was editor of the student paper for two years. She went on to earn journalism and history degrees from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She has worked extensively in new media, including with Guy Kawasaki on Truemors.com and Alltop.com. She has also worked as an assistant editor at the University of California, San Francisco, and as an intern at Honolulu Magazine, The Honolulu Advertiser, KHON2, and Newsweek.

Katherine Poythress, currently a staff writer at The Gadsden Times in Gadsden, Alabama. Katherine is a graduate of Hillsdale College in Michigan, where she was on a scholarship for outstanding journalistic performance. Katherine is a hard-driving local news reporter who has embraced new media tools. She has also worked as a reporter at The Daily Home in Talladega, Alabama.