3-minute read
Dear readers: As LkldNow approaches its 10th birthday this fall, Executive Director Trinity Laurino and I are excited to announce new leadership for our newsroom. Robert Meyerowitz, an experienced editor who has worked with news organizations large and small, became editor of LkldNow this month.
Robert is our third editor. He takes over from Cindy Glover, who succeeded me in March 2023. Cindy has moved into a reporting position that combines her expertise at data journalism with her passion for social services and community-based solutions.
As editor, Robert will oversee LkldNow’s news content on all of our platforms and the work of our staff and free-lance journalists.
I will be moving back into my role as editor-at-large – handling special projects and supporting Trinity and Robert’s efforts to preserve community journalism in Lakeland.
— Barry Friedman, founder and editor-at-large
A QA with Robert
Where did you grow up? Did it play a role in shaping the person you became?
I was born at Fort Bragg, in North Carolina, where my father was posted with the Army, and grew up in Upstate New York after that, in a very pleasant suburb that looked like “The Truman Show.” So naturally I wanted to go to the ends of the earth to see if there was something even better.
How did you get into journalism?
I had a journalism internship in high school where I got to see reporters at work, fired up by that post-Watergate drive for getting the truth and letting the chips fly. I read some early George Orwell and Ernest Hemingway, their journalism, and then I was hooked for good. Much later, I taught journalism and began with Orwell’s “A Hanging.” I’m still blown away by it.
What are some highlights of your journalism career?
Being a foreign correspondent for NPR and others in Central America and the Middle East. I got to cover the U.S. invasion of Panama, the Gulf War, life in Cuba. I was learning at hyper-speed. And then building and editing the Anchorage Press, a weekly paper in Alaska. The Press is where I learned to be an editor. We felt there was no limit to what we could accomplish there. That’s a feeling I’ve kept ever since.
What attracted you to LkldNow?
I was initially referred to Trinity Laurino when I was still in Utah, told she was looking for an editor for nonprofit news in Florida. I’m a veteran of both for-profit and nonprofit news. Now definitely feels like the time to head for the latter, where the mission is clearer, while so much legacy media is in a muddle. Once I’d talked to Trinity and done a little research, LkldNow and Lakeland seemed like a super-promising combination. That was several months ago and I’ve had no reason to revise that opinion.
What are your first impressions of Lakeland?
I was told there was a strong sense of community here and darn if that doesn’t seem to be the case, which is terrific, especially for our work and audience. It seems like a livable community to me, one where people are drawn to its amenities as well as its opportunities, and a growing one. Growth always brings challenges — but as someone who knew nothing about Lakeland two or three months ago, I already want to tell friends in other places about the great things I’ve discovered here.
In the short time you’ve been here, what have become your favorite places to go in Lakeland?
I have a border collie, Bunny, who’s getting good use already from the Dog Leg bark park on Cleveland Heights. I love the Lakeland tennis courts on Edgewood; I’ve been playing there as much as I can. The Peach House is a short walk from where I live now; I just tried it Saturday night (I’ve only been here 10 days) and thought it was fantastic.
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