New Names, New Faces, and More News at Charlotte magazine

In the past few months, there have been some pretty exciting changes in the works at Charlotte magazine and www.charlottemagazine.com, including several new editors, writers, and designers. In case you haven’t been scouring the print masthead or memorizing bylines (What?! You haven’t?!), I thought I would share them here:

During her career in journalism, Aleigh Acerni has been editor of Skirt! Charlotte magazine and our sister publication Where Charlotte. In early 2012, she become editor of two of our other sister magazines, Charlotte Wedding and Charlotte Home + Garden. She’s also food and dining editor for Charlotte magazine. Which means she’s pretty much always working on something fun, and pretty much always on deadline.

Virginia Brown, a Charlotte native and UNC Chapel Hill grad, joined us this past spring as editor of Where Charlotte and associate editor of Charlotte magazine. She’s our travel editor, and she contributes in various other ways as well. In the February issue, which goes online any day now, she edited the outstanding cover package, on Charlotte’s hidden history.

Lisa Rab came on board this past summer as associate editor of Charlotte magazine. She edits the Buzz section of the magazine and writes stories on a number of subjects. Already, she’s written two excellent stories about the coming surge of charter schools and why veterans at UNCC are joining sororities.

But wait! There’s more!

Our new(ish) art director is Jane Fields. She’s worked at The Charlotte Observer and at a couple local ad agencies. She brings a very thoughtful, thorough, and fun approach to her designs, and I think soon you’ll start seeing a Charlotte magazine with more verve than ever.

She is joined by our brand new staff photographer, Logan Cyrus. Logan spent six years in the Navy before getting a degree in photography at the Art Institute of Charlotte. His photos have already been all over the magazine, and he worked fourteen-hour days photographing the Democratic National Convention for us.

Joining them next week as associate art director will be Kellie Duff. She comes to us most recently from Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, and she has also worked at Charleston magazine.

There’s still more!

We have a killer lineup of new bloggers and contributing editors. If you’ve spent any time with the magazine at all, then you likely know Jeremy Markovich’s byline. He’s written about a blind hiker, firefighters, and the scrap to reclaim the Hornets name. He’s our new back-page columnist, and he also writes weekly-ish in a blog by the same name, Way Out. He’s funny and incisive and I think you’ll love his stuff.

If you’re interested in politics at all, or just appreciate good writing, then you need to be reading Greg Lacour’s new blog, Poking the Hornet’s Nest. Trust me when I say there is no other blog like this in town. Greg eschews false equivalence, lasers in on what really matters, and will call b.s. on anyone who slings it. Look for his byline on longer stories soon, too.

Finally, Josh Lanier has come on board as our new contributing editor for arts and culture. A career journalist and, of late, comedy writer, he helms our blog Revue, which covers Charlotte culture high, low, and in between. He will also write our calendar and best bets. And he’ll contribute in myriad other ways, too.

One more thing. After 18 years on staff here, including the last 14 as editor and the past five as editor and associate publisher, I am moving on. Sort of.

As of last week, I have assumed the role of publisher, overseeing Charlotte magazine, its excellent sister mags Charlotte Wedding and Charlotte Home + Garden, and their websites. That means I’ll be transitioning out of the well worn editor’s chair (well, I’m taking the chair with me to my new office, but you get the metaphor) and will be hiring an executive editor for Charlotte magazine. Honestly, typing those words makes my pulse quicken. It’s a thrilling yet bittersweet move for me. I am incredibly proud of the work we have done in the past fourteen years and owe a lot of thanks to the dozens and dozens of writers, photographers, editors, and designers who have worked so hard to help make Charlotte magazine and its sister magazines so successful and so damn good. I am grateful to Karen Rodriguez, who has been our publisher pretty much as long as I’ve been here and has always maintained a steady hand (and she’ll still be my boss—she’s taken on a vice president role in our parent company). Most of all, I am incredibly appreciative of the tens of thousands of people who read our stuff and keep coming back for more.

I may be moving behind the scenes a bit, but I won’t disappear completely. While I focus on growing the entire business, making it possible for the great journalism I so believe in to survive and thrive, I’ll still blog a little here and there, and I may even write a story or two. I’ll work closely with the extremely talented and dedicated team here—staffers and freelancers—to push our magazines and websites forward and keep giving you, the reader, what you deserve. Which is great storytelling, essential service journalism, and a thrilling print and digital experience. Onward.