As PublicSource celebrates its 10th anniversary, the organization announces the promotion of Halle Stockton to the role of editor-in-chief.
This change comes at a pivotal moment for PublicSource, as CEO Eric D. Zack takes on responsibility for the organization’s business operations. As editor-in-chief, Stockton will consolidate responsibility for all editorial strategy and operations.
Stockton joined PublicSource as a reporter in 2012 and was promoted to managing editor in 2015. Under Stockton’s leadership, the PublicSource newsroom has amplified the organization’s mission to inspire critical thinking and bold ideas through journalism rooted in facts, diverse voices and the pursuit of transparency.
Stockton has led PublicSource to produce journalism with impact, to significantly grow its audience and to expand editorial partnerships with local and regional newsrooms. PublicSource has twice been the recipient of the Online News Association’s Online Journalism Awards for General Excellence by a micro-newsroom.
PublicSource’s journalism responds to community needs and holds accountable powerful individuals and systems, Stockton said.
“The principles and thoughtful public-service journalism you’ve come to expect from PublicSource will continue,” she said. “Our team will double down on providing residents of the Pittsburgh region with deeper clarity and context and new ideas that broaden understanding.”
Prior to joining PublicSource, Stockton was a reporter for the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune for four years. She has won several awards for her journalism; most notably, she was named a 2016 finalist for the prestigious Livingston Awards for Young Journalists and earned a national Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 2015. The Institute for Nonprofit News selected Stockton as one of 10 Emerging Leaders in U.S. nonprofit journalism in 2017.
“Halle has a distinguished track record of success as a reporter, editor and leader,” Zack said. “We are fortunate and excited to have her continue to lead PublicSource’s award-winning team to provide Pittsburghers in-depth reporting on meaningful stories that make a difference in our region.”
Stockton has named Rich Lord as managing editor. Lord, a Pittsburgh journalist for a quarter century who has helped take PublicSource reporting to new heights since early 2020, will partner with Stockton on editorial strategy and coaching all of our journalists to produce excellent journalism for the Pittsburgh region.
“I’ve been privileged to be part of PublicSource during a time of intensified need for incisive local journalism, and I’m thrilled about the team we have and the way we’re growing,” said Lord.
Lord reported for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from 2005 through early 2020, leading projects on child poverty, the opioid epidemic, communities with concentrations of people accessing mental health services, and the federal use of confidential informants. He has covered the federal court and city government beats, and was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for breaking news reporting, for reporting on the Tree of Life massacre. Rich has also worked for the Pittsburgh City Paper and the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.
