Everyone knows that community newspapers are closing across the country, especially in Massachusetts. We lost our jobs following a restructuring by a large nationally known media conglomerate in 2022.
We pooled our resources and talent, striking out on our own to start Gotta Know Media to fill the gap in community news and bring local news back to the people where it belongs.
Gotta Know Media is a women-owned company providing community news, editorial content, video and podcasts.
Staff
Nell Escobar Coakley
Nell has done pretty much every job in journalism, including reporting, editing, and managing several newspapers north of Boston. She was editor of the Medford Transcript for roughly 20 years and was Deputy Director of Massachusetts State News for Gannett Media.
She loves to read, cook, and play piano. She lives outside Boston with her husband and son and six frisky felines.
Chris Stevens
Chris Stevens has been a reporter/editor for over 20 years. She was a reporter for the Lynn Item for 15 years and wrote a weekly food column, Side Dish. She is the former editor of the Marblehead Reporter and worked for Gannett Media as a food writer.
In a prior life she spent 15 years working as a line cook, caterer and personal chef for an MIT fraternity house.
She still loves to cook and read, do crossword puzzles, write questionable poetry and refurbish furniture picked up by the side of the road. She lives by the sea with her musician husband and chunky monkey cat named Jill.
Wendall Waters
Wendall has 20 years of experience in the newspaper industry. She is the former reporter/editor with several papers, including the Beverly Citizen, Malden Observer, Ipswich Chronicle, and Tri-Town Transcript. She also covered environmental issues for Wicked Local and Gannett Media.
Sheâs an ice hockey player, loves photographing spiders, and lives north of Boston with her two cats, Tommy âThe Thumbsâ Spiletti and Tin Foil, and a great dane named Sandy Sue.
