Whitney Joseph

I am an award-winning journalist, opinion writer and editor currently working as a writer, columnist and photographer for magazines in both Florida and New York.

Prior to returning to my native Sunshine State, I spent a glorious 20 years as editor of the historic Millerton News, earning numerous honors from the New York Press Association. Among those awards were multiple first-place Best Editorials, along with a number of other accolades earned during my tenure helming the Hudson Valley paper.

My specialty is powerful editorial writing — I built a reputation for consistently setting the record straight — regardless of whether readers, politicians, educators, board members, community members, or any others agreed with me. Funnily enough, those who didn't agree with my views would sometimes reach out to say they respected my straightforwardness and my fairness. I came to appreciate those comments even more than from those who always agreed with me.

I've never been known to shy away from writing about controversial or difficult topics no matter how delicate the subject matter. At the same time, I built a reputation for being fair- and open-minded.

I approach penning a column or editorial as I do one of my news articles. I do my due diligence and conduct whatever research necessary on any given topic, to ensure I can write about the subject matter from the perspective of someone who is well-informed. If a topic is especially delicate or requires being handled tactfully, I am fully capable of doing so. Yet, I can also attack any issue as aggressively as a lion can tear into an antelope.

After nearly three decades in the news business, some of my key skills include knowing how to be artfully persuasive; meeting tight deadlines; working collaboratively; cultivating close community contacts; working well with the public; increasing public engagement; and successful project management.

As I had gotten my first taste of news at my college FM radio station and then pursued broadcast news, I am well-versed in all forms of news media and revel in it all: radio news, TV news and print news — the technical as well as the editorial side.

I am skilled in graphic design and able to layout newspaper pages in Adobe InDesign; I'm familiar with WordPress; I'm adept at Facebook; and I have basic skills with other social media platforms.

I take great pride in producing meticulously researched and detailed data and transforming it into entertaining and engaging content that's relatable to a broad range of audiences.

• New York Press Association (NYPA), Best Editorial, 1st Place, 2010
• NYPA, Best News Story, 3rd Place, 2007
• NYPA, Best In-Depth Reporting, Whitney Joseph and Patrick Boise, 3rd Place, 2007
• NYPA, Best Editorial, 1st Place, 2007
• NYPA, Best News Story, 2nd Place, 2007
• NYPA, Best In-Depth Reporting, 2nd Place, 2006

• New York Press Association (NYPA), Spring Press Conferences, 2003-2019

Attended NYPA's annual newspaper training conferences with seminars, speakers and special sessions focused on local newspapers to continually expand my professional development and keep up-to-date with trends in my field of expertise.