I have spent much of my professional life in local reporting. Having started out six years ago covering hard news at a local paper in Somerset County I spent six months working for the National Wrestling Coaches Association before returning to local news. For the past four years I was the sports reporter for a local paper in Point Pleasant covering two schools and watching athletes go from high school rookies to college student athletes and beyond.

For the last three years I have been married to my wonderful wife Allyson and in August we welcomed our beautiful daughter Erin to the world. Now my hobbies include being a dad and a husband, but in my spare time I am somewhat proud to be  fan of the New York Mets while also supporting the other local New York sports teams.

After covering the Gulls and the Panthers for the past four years, I'm looking forward to seeing what Rebel pride is all about and getting more familiar with the town I have lived in for the last two and a half years.

The following is an update written in April 2012 to the original profile bio which was written in December 2010, when this Patch site went live.

Hi and welcome to Point Pleasant Patch!

I've been writing news and feature stories since 1982, when I wrote for my college newspaper and was a stringer for The New York Times. After college, I worked part-time and did freelance writing for newspapers and magazines, then worked for 11 years as a full-time reporter for New Jersey daily newspapers such as The Press of Atlantic City and The Asbury Park Press.

While working at the Asbury Park Press, my husband and I bought a house in Point Pleasant Borough in July, 1993 and we've been here ever since. After leaving the Asbury Park Press in January, 1998, I did a  lot of freelance writing for magazines, including New Jersey Monthly, New Jersey Life and The Nation, and also did copywriting for corporate web sites.

My husband and I live with our two children who had attended Nellie F. Bennett Elementary School from grades K-5. My daughter graduated from Memorial Middle School in June 2011 and is a high school freshman currently (April 2012). My son is in seventh grade at Memorial Middle School.

We've spent a lot of time going to the river and ocean beaches, the boardwalk and parks and enjoy fishing, crabbing, biking and walking all over the Borough and the Beach.

Christina Johnson is the Senior Local Editor of the Middletown-NJ Patch.

She is part of the start-up team that launched Patch in Monmouth County in December, 2010. 

Christina Johnson began working as the Holmdel Patch Local Editor in December, 2010 which later became the Holmdel-Hazlet Patch. 

Before joining Patch, Christina worked at the Star Ledger as a newspaper feature writer for four years and as a multimedia producer/photo editor at MSNBC.com where she worked in the newsrooms of CNBC and NBC News for six years.

She covered municipal meetings and wrote features for the Asbury Park Press out of the Middletown Bureau, and the News Tribune of Woodbridge.

Christina began her career in news at the New York Times, where she worked at the old 43rd Street newsroom for four years. Her first paycheck said "copygirl." Before that, she was inspired by an internship for her TV idol, Charles Kuralt of CBS News.

Her passion for news can be traced to all the way back to her first job as a girl growing up in Holmdel: a bicycle papergirl for the Sunday Register.  

A graduate of Holmdel High, Christina now lives in Hazlet with her husband, son and daughter.

A veteran, award-winning writer and actor, you've probably seen
Elaine Van Develde somewhere: either with pen, notebook and camera in hand at a local event; or oddly costumed and wielding a weapon or plopping poison in someone's drink as a suspect character in an interactive theater murder mystery.

The native Fair Havenite's journey to journalism began when an unwitting writing professor at Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, told her that it might be a good idea to pursue a career in the field, because she had a knack and was just nuts enough. Those were the days when it was cool to trudge uphill in a storm and sport a reporter's fedora to get the story ... or get to class and daydream about it, anyway.

Elaine took the professor's advice to heart. Post-Pittsburgh, she wrangled with which writing career direction to take and eventually made her way to the arena of local journalism. She has since been on staff at several weekly newspapers — the Courier, Hub, Independent, Atlanticville, Link News, Coaster, Two River Times and Edison/Metuchen Sentinel — and covered just about every municipality within a 50-mile radius, including the largest in Middlesex and Monmouth counties, Edison and Middletown.

I'm Anthony Bellano, your galloway.patch.com editor. I can be reached by e-mail at Anthony.Bellano@patch.com or by phone at (609) 277-1029. I was born on July 3, 1979 in Pittsburgh, and moved to New Jersey when I was two years old. 

A former Staff Writer for the Press of Atlantic City, I have more than five years of fulltime experience covering local and regional news and sports. Born and raised in southern New Jersey - even attending college there - Red Bank and this part of the state is relatively new to me. I'm going to use this to my advantage and learn everything about the area that I can. The coverage I provide will be interesting and comprehensive. There's a story in everything, and I'm going to find it.

Colleen Platt is the local editor for the Barnegat-Manahawkin Patch.

Colleen worked several years for The Asbury Park Press, where she served as a metro reporter and covered Long Beach Island. She reported on a number of subjects, including enterprise features focusing on the environment, personality profiles and breaking news.

Colleen recently has worked for Integrated Media Solutions, where she was responsible for the overall production of continuing education supplements and programs.

Colleen has worked as a guest editor for the Barnegat-Manahawkin Patch over the last month. Here are some of her stories:

K9 Unit Remembered as Partner, Friend and Family http://patch.com/A-wwgh

Trophy Returns to Barnegat http://patch.com/A-vHRF

Kathy Pigott is the calendar editor for Westfield Patch, Scotch Plains-Fanwood Patch, Cranford Patch, Clark-Garwood Patch, Springfield Patch, New Providence Patch and Berkeley Heights-Mountainside Patch.

Keith has been in journalism for 18 years, with nearly three years with Patch. Prior to that, he spent eight years as a municipal reporter with the Asbury Park Press, covering Tinton Falls, Eatontown, Shrewsbury Borough,  Shrewsbury Township and Fort Monmouth. You may have seen some of his investigative work uncovering the events that led to the closure of Fort Monmouth. Less likely, you may also have seen him on television, talking about the closure of military installations nationwide. Previously, Keith spent four years as an online news editor for a mid-sized newspaper website in California's Central Valley, setting up and running the McClatchy newspaper company's first news website. He also was instrumental in creating San Francisco State University's Online Journalism Program, while a student there way back - in internet time - in 1996. Contact him at (732) 556-8562 or keith.brown@patch.com; follow him on twitter@wallpatch

Catherine Galioto has lived in Toms River nearly all her life -- which spans a measly three decades -- having started her journalism career with Toms River High School East's Raider Readout, Reflections magazine and TV-21 news team. While she was earning a bachelor's degree in journalism, Catherine led student media such as Ocean County College's Viking News and Rutgers University's Daily Targum and after graduation in 2007 worked as a freelance and staff reporter for Ocean County weekly newspapers. She most recently served as Special Sections Coordinator for The Press of Atlantic City. Over the years, she's racked up New Jersey Press Association Awards for collegiate, editorial and marketing/advertising categories. But so what, really. She's just thrilled to be a part of getting the news out, honestly.

Hi, my name is Chris Sheldon, and I am the editor of Long Branch-Eatontown Patch. I have lived in West Long Branch and Long Branch for most of my life, with a quick stopover in Rhode Island.

I graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 2008 with B.A. in journalism.

While in Rhode Island, I worked for the Westerly Sun, a daily local paper, along with its weekly publications, The Mystic River Press, Westerly-Pawcatuck Press, Charlestown Press and Wood River Press. All of these papers covered southern Rhode Island and northern Connecticut.

When I moved back to New Jersey, I began working for The Ocean Star, a weekly newspaper in Point Pleasant Beach. There, I covered the boroughs of Lavallette and Point Pleasant Beach, and gained valuable experience while doing so.

I have worked at two hyperlocal news publications before joining Patch, and now I am excited to cover the area where I grew up. I never really took to the time to get the know the area as well as I would like, but this new venture will give me the opportunity to do so. 

Daniel Nee is a lifelong resident of Ocean County. He is a 2007 graduate of Monmouth University with a degree in Political Science, and in 2012, earned his Masters Degree in Public Policy, also at Monmouth.

Daniel began his career in journalism at The SandPaper in Surf City, covering local issues, and later worked for a weekly newspaper in Monmouth County before founding Jersey Shore Fishing, a monthly magazine covering fishing and boating in the Shore area. He has also covered local government, businesses, events and breaking news for The Press of Atlantic City and Micromedia Publications.

He still serves as publisher and editor of Jersey Shore Fishing.

Daniel is an avid boater and angler, and can often be seen cruising Barnegat Bay, hunting for fluke and striped bass in Barnegat Bay or somewhere a few miles off the beach drifting over an artificial reef. He holds the distinction of having landed a keeper flonder during the East Coast Earthquake of 2011!

Daniel also serves as a member of the New Jersey Sea Grant Consortium Stakeholder Advisory Board and has volunteered with ReClam The Bay, part of the the Barnegat Bay Shellfish Restoration Project, as well as with the New Jersey Beach Buggy Association to help restore Island Beach State Park.

Elaine Piniat is a 2010 graduate of Rutgers University, with a bachelor's degree in Journalism and Media Studies.

Elaine began pursuing a career in journalism through multiple internships with magazines, newspapers, and organizations including Whole Foods magazine, the Healthcare Intelligence Network, Home News Tribune, Athletes in Action, InnerVoice magazine, and the Long Island Press. She was also a Staff Writer for the Daily Targum, Rutgers University's daily newspaper as well as a freelance reporter for Micromedia Publications.

Elaine can most likely be found spending time with her family and friends. As a former college athlete, Elaine enjoys working out and bike riding.

Gregory Kyriakakis is a journalist from Ocean County, New Jersey. He completed his Master's of Arts in Print Journalism, with an emphasis in online multimedia journalism, at the University of Miami in 2008. While at the UM, Gregory was awarded the 2008 Outstanding Graduate Student in Print Journalism award.

After graduation, he earned a living as a freelance journalist in South Florida, working as a community reporter for The Miami Herald. Gregory enjoys telling stories and believes everyone has something to say.

Besides writing, Gregory is also a musician who has played the violin for 14 years in various New Jersey and Florida orchestras. In his free time, Gregory is completing work on his first electronic music album. 

Patricia A. Miller  has been a reporter and editor at a variety of publications since 1984. She started her career as a reporter at the Asbury Park Press and covered Long Beach Island, Little Egg Harbor Township, Lacey Township, Point Pleasant, Jackson Township, Toms River and Berkeley Township. She became the Ocean County government reporter for the Press in 1993, and covered the Board of Freeholders, a number of county agencies and wrote an award-winning column "Ocean Diary" each week. Pat spent the last seven years at Greater Media Newspapers and served as managing editor of the Edison/Metuchen Sentinel, the Woodbridge Sentinel and the Brick Township Bulletin during that time. Pat has won a number of awards during her time as a journalist from a variety of organizations, including the New Jersey Press Association, the New Jersey Society of Professional Journalists and the North Jersey Press Club.

She graduated from the College of New Jersey with a degree in English and a concentration in journalism. She also holds an associate's degree from Ocean County College.



Judy Bendar has been an Ocean County reporter off and on for over 20 years. She spent time at the Asbury Park Press and Ocean County Observer.  A long-time Ocean County resident, she now lives in nearby Forked River of Lacey Township. Her freelance work has appeared in New Jersey Monthly magazine and Scholastic's Family Computing magazine.  She was also on staff at Woman's World Magazine.

Her college years were spent in Glassboro where she graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Journalism/Communications and a minor in Political Science from Glassboro State College, now known as Rowan University.

When not writing, she keeps busy with her Barnegat-based antique business.

Nick Malfitano is a freelance contributor and assistant local editor to Patch.com. Nick was a staff writer at his college newspaper The Whit at Rowan University from 2002-2003, and later earned a Bachelor's Degree in Communications with a specialization in Writing Arts from Rowan University in 2006. After college, Nick worked as both a beat reporter for The Coast Star newspaper covering Manasquan and Avon-By-The-Sea, plus as an editorial assistant and beat reporter for The Ocean Star newspaper covering Bay Head, in addition to covering freelance work in the Jersey Shore region in between. He's been a resident of the Jersey Shore since 1987.

Jamie hails from Jersey City, New Jersey and is currently pursuing an MBA in Marketing at Rutgers University. Jamie is equipped with experience in the NYC film and TV industry and years of non-profit sales under her belt. She is thrilled to be at Patch and to work with you. If you are interested in advertising or partnering with Patch please contact her at 212-402-4608 or jamie.shuali@patch.com

Tom Davis is an award-winning journalist and web producer who is Jersey Shore regional editor for Patch.com. Tom is a Point Pleasant Boro native who formerly managed the Ocean County bureau for The Press of Atlantic City. He wrote a book that was released in 2011 called "A Legacy of Madness: Recovering My Family From Generations of Mental Illness." Until 2010, Tom Davis was a multi-media journalist with The Record of Bergen County, N.J., where he also wrote articles that appeared in The Star-Ledger. He teaches journalism classes at Rutgers University, where he sits on the Digital Committee and is helping to develop more of a digital media presence in the Journalism and Media Studies Department. Tom created "Rutgers Reporter," a weekly web newspaper with content produced by his classes. Rutgers Reporter also can be found on his personal web page. Contact: tom.davis@patch.com. Twitter: http://twitter.com/NJShorePatch Phone: 732-395-8956.

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.