PA Post names first executive editor

• Ed Mahon
  BioRecent Stories

  

  Ed Mahon comes to Spotlight PA from PA Post, where he covered state politics and policy, produced radio stories that were broadcast on public media stations throughout the state and on NPR’s national newscasts, and co-wrote a weekday newsletter. Prior to joining PA Post, Ed worked for six years as an investigative and political reporter for the York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network. His reporting on failures in Pennsylvania’s system for protecting domestic abuse victims was a finalist in the national 2018 Livingston Awards for Young Journalists in the local reporting category. He was also part of a team whose coverage of the criminal justice system, including the aggressive use of civil asset forfeiture by York County prosecutors, received the 2018 G. Richard Dew Award for Journalistic Service from the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association. Before joining the York Daily Record, Ed covered K-12 education at the Centre Daily Times in State College and worked as a stringer for suburban sections of The Philadelphia Inquirer. He grew up in Delaware County, Pennsylvania.

 Tom Downing / WITF

Incoming PA Post Executive Editor Russ Walker.

From The Context, PA Post’s weekday email newsletter:

A ‘really high public mission’

Tom Downing / WITF

Incoming PA Post Executive Editor Russ Walker’s investigative projects have earned two Peabody Awards, national and regional Edward R. Murrow Awards, and regional Emmy Awards.

• Fellow PA Post reporter Emily Previti and I spoke with new executive editor Russ Walker about why he decided to move to the commonwealth, how he hopes to partner with other newsrooms, and many other topics. You can read the Q and A.

• Here are some things to know about Russ: He most recently served as assistant news director, executive producer for investigations and online managing editor for KING 5 in Seattle, Wash. He also worked as a senior editor at Politico and as an editor for washingtonpost.com. His first official day at PA Post is July 15.

• If you’re interested in seeing some of Russ’ swork, I recommend KING 5’s “Back of the Class” investigation, which described widespread failures by Washington public schools to serve students with disabilities. The series won a Peabody Award, and judges praised it for “impressive and diligent journalism that led the Washington state legislature to prioritize education for all children.”

Best of the rest

David Dermer / AP Photo

In this 2018 photo, Carmen Fultz, an employee of Buckeye Relief LLC, sorts the male and female marijuana plants inside a Veg Room in Eastlake, Ohio.

• After filing an open records request with the state, WITF’s Brett Sholtis found that half of all medical marijuana permits issued in Pennsylvania are for severe or chronic pain. Post-traumatic stress disorder was the second most common reason listed. It accounted for 14 percent of the permits.

• Costs for Highmark insurance customers who receive healthcare from UPMC will increase if a 2014 agreement expires at the end of the month, Mark Scolforo reports for the Associated Press. Scolforo covered a hearing on Monday that pitted Highmark and UPMC, two “Pittsburgh-based health care giants,” against each other.

• LNP’s Abigail King profiles John Slaymaker, the operator of what the news organization says might be the world’s only egg vending machine. “It’s a neighborhood thing,” Slaymaker said.