‘You say goodbye, I say hello!’: Newsroom shuffle underway
Outgoing Editor Jamie Wiggan during the grand opening of the GetGo on Chartiers Avenue in McKees Rocks Dec. 3, 2021.-GAZETTE 2.0-
As we approach our five-year anniversary, it’s time to announce a new slate of changes at Gazette 2.0.
First, we’re saying goodbye to our editor-in-chief Jamie Wiggan, who has led the newsroom since last May after joining the team in late 2018 as a staff writer. Wiggan has accepted a job as Pittsburgh City Paper’s news editor and worked his last day at the Gazette on May 21. He said he’ll be forever grateful for the scrappy news outlet that gave him his start.
“It’s been a privilege learning the trade in the McKees Rocks community, where stories and intrigue are never in short supply,” he said. “I’m thankful to everyone who’s volunteered their time and perspective to make my stories worth reading, and to everyone who’s answered the impertinent questions that this job sometimes demands.”
Wiggan said he will continue to follow events in the western side of town for occasional publication in his new outlet.
On the incoming side, Elizabeth Perry has joined the team as a part time staff writer and has already begun showing her face around the community. Perry is a Point Park trained journalist who worked at the Innocence Institute through graduate school. Her reporting was featured in a series of articles entitled “Sight Unseen,” which received Pittsburgh Black Media Federation's Robert Vann Award for Investigative Journalism in 2005 and Second Place in the SPJ Spotlight Awards in 2006.
After getting her masters, Perry worked for a weekly newspaper in Missouri before returning to Pittsburgh. She will cover Kennedy, Sto-Rox and McKees Rocks for Gazette 2.0.
"I'm excited to serve the community and I'm really proud to join this team," she said.
In her spare time Perry writes novels and “paints mediocre landscapes.” She lives in Ross Township with her family.
For the next 10 weeks, we’ll also be joined by Alice Crow, an intern for Gazette 2.0 through the Pittsburgh Media Partnership.
Crow is set to graduate from Chatham University in the spring of 2023 with a degree in political science and economics. As the former Editor-in-chief of Chatham’s student-run newspaper, the Communiqué, she continues to work for the media outlet as a staff writer.
Crow has previously contributed to Gazette 2.0 as a freelance writer, and will be covering Crafton and Montour during her summer internship.
“As an intern with Gazette 2.0, I’m excited to learn more about the areas the newspaper serves and grow as a journalist through mentorship from the staff,” she said.
Alice grew up in the City of Pittsburgh and studied technical theater at Pittsburgh CAPA in high school.