Staff Members

Chris Krug is the President of the Franklin News Foundation. Chris brings to Franklin more than 25 years of experience in the media industry. He is the former publisher of the suburban Chicago Pioneer Press newspaper chain.

Prior to his tenure as a vice president at Sun-Times Media Network and oversight of Pioneer, he was responsible for all news operations and managed properties in the suburbs as a vice president for Shaw Suburban Media. During that time, he worked directly with teams at the Northwest Herald, Kane County Chronicle, DeKalb Daily-Chronicle, the Lake County Journals, and the bilingual El Conquistador. Chris has also served as a deputy editor at the Denver Post.

In 2008, the Local Media Association honored Chris as national editor of the year. Chris also is the former president of the Illinois Associated Press Editors Association. Presstime named Krug a 40 under 40 in 2008. Chris earned his undergraduate degree from Allegheny College (Pa.) and his Masters of Business Administration from Lake Forest (Ill.) Graduate School of Management.

Chris resides in suburban Chicago and can be reached at ckrug@franklinnews.org.

Dan McCaleb is a veteran editor who has worked in journalism for more than 25 years . Prior to joining the Franklin News Foundation in 2017, McCaleb served as editorial director of Shaw Media and was the top editor of the award-winning Northwest Herald in suburban Chicago.

Dan lives in suburban Chicago. He can be reached at dmccaleb@thecentersquare.com.

Laurel Abraham has worked in nonprofit fundraising for more than a decade. She has experience working directly with lawmakers and policy leaders on a variety of issues nationwide. Laurel holds a masters degree in political management from George Washington University. In her role, Laurel connects with individuals and foundations who seek to support fact-based journalism, reaching a broad audience of taxpayers across the country.

For information about our efforts at the Franklin News Foundation, contact Laurel at labraham@franklinnews.org.

Jerry Lyles has worked across four decades, helping newspapers, radio, TV and news media sites grow and expand their print and digital offerings. With positions ranging from local newspaper group publisher to senior vice president of sales/marketing, chief revenue officer and vice president of syndicated content during those years, Jerry has worked for various media outlets including Publishing Group of America, Athlon Sports, Parade Magazine, Dobie Media, TownNews, AHM Publishing, and most recently The Daily Wire. Jerry lives outside of Nashville with his wife, Shirlene. They have one daughter and a grandchild.

Kate Guenther brings more than ten years of experience supporting news organizations in the areas of content management, digital marketing, and user design. In her former role as Assistant Director of Chalkboard Review, Kate played a key role in the organization’s strategy development and oversaw all website operations including the Chalkboard Media Wire, an aggregation of the most noteworthy education news, commentary, and podcasts. Kate was instrumental in the redesign of Chalkboard Review’s website, leading the team through conceptualization, design, development, and final launch.

Kate earned a B.A. in Electronic Filmmaking and Digital Video Design from Fairleigh Dickinson University, and has received certificates in digital marketing, UX design, and UI design.

Kate can be reached at kguenther@franklinnews.org.

Tom Gantert worked at many daily newspapers including the Ann Arbor News, Lansing State Journal and USA Today. Gantert was the managing editor of Michigan Capitol Confidential for five years before joining The Center Square.

Tom can be reached at tgantert@thecentersquare.com.

Cole Lauterbach is a managing editor for The Center Square covering the western United States. For more than a decade, Cole has produced award-winning content on both radio and television.

Cole can be reached at clauterbach@thecentersquare.com.

Alan Wooten has been a publisher, general manager and editor. His work has appeared in newspapers every year since 1977, and he’s won national or state awards in every decade since the 1980s. He’s a proud graduate of Elon University and Farmville Central High in North Carolina.

Alan can be reached at awooten@thecentersquare.com.

An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher.

J.D. can be reached at jdavidson@thecentersquare.com.

Derek Draplin is The Center Square’s Regional Editor for the west. He previously worked as an opinion producer at Forbes, as an editor at The Daily Caller, and as a reporter at Michigan Capitol Confidential and The Detroit News.

Derek can be reached at ddraplin@thecentersquare.com.

Jeremy Lott is a regional editor at The Center Square overseeing the Pacific Northwest. Lott previously worked as an editor for a number of publications and founded three of the Real Clear Politics family of websites.

Jeremy can be reached at jlott@thecentersquare.com.

David Mastio, a regional editor for The Center Square, has 25 years of newspaper reporting and editing experience with USA TODAY, The Detroit News, The Washington Examiner, The Virginian-Pilot and The Washington Times. In addition, he has been a speechwriter for a member of the cabinet and launched his own web publishing company.

David can be reached at dmastio@thecentersquare.com.

Sarah Roderick-Fitch is The Center Square’s Mid-Atlantic Regional Editor. She has previously worked as an editor, and has been a contributing writer for several publications. In addition to writing and editing, Sarah spent nearly a decade working for non-profit, public policy organizations in the Washington, DC area.

She earned a B.A. in Communications with an emphasis on rhetorical theory and criticism and persuasion from Western Illinois University. Sarah is a central Illinois native, who has lived all over the country, and abroad. She now resides in Northern Virginia.

Sarah can be reached at sroderickfitch@thecentersquare.com.

Christen joins The Center Square as its Pennsylvania News Editor and brings with her more than a decade of experience covering state and national policy issues from all angles. She’s a Pennsylvania State University alumna and has been published in the The Washington Examiner, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, RealClear and Broad+Liberty, among others.

Christencan be reached at csmith@thecentersquare.com.

Bruce Walker is a regional editor at The Center Square. He previously worked as editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy’s MichiganScience magazine and The Heartland Institute’s InfoTech & Telecom News.

Bruce can be reached at bwalker@thecentersquare.com.

Steve Wilson has been an award-winning writer and editor for nearly 20 years at newspapers in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi and is a U.S. Coast Guard veteran and University of Alabama graduate.

Steve can be reached at swilson@thecentersquare.com.

Brent Addleman is an Associate Editor and a veteran journalist with more than 25 years of experience. He has served as editor of newspapers in Pennsylvania and Texas, and has also worked at newspapers in Delaware, Maryland, New York, and Kentucky.

Brent can be reached at baddleman@thecentersquare.com.

Kim Jarrett’s career spans over 30 years with stops in radio, print and television. She has won awards from both the Georgia Press Association and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters.

Kim can be reached at kjarrett@thecentersquare.com.

Shiloh Carozza manages and curates The Center Square’s newsletters.

Shiloh graduated from Hillsdale College with a B.A. in Rhetoric and Public Address and has experience in communications and scriptwriting, appearing as a guest writer on the national radio program Our America Stories.

Shiloh can be reached at scarozza@franklinnews.org.

Jason is a graduate of Northwestern University and began his career at WGN Radio in Chicago. He joined IRN in 2003, and was promoted to sports director in 2005. Additionally, Jason works as a host for SB Nation Radio (previously Sporting News Radio), and has been a national sports talk show host since 2006. Jason can also be seen as a recurring guest on NBC Sports Chicago​’s Sports Talk Live TV program.

​Jason has reported from numerous events including the Super Bowl, World Series, Stanley Cup Finals, MLB playoffs, NBA Playoffs, and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. He also co-hosted a sports talk show in Chicago with former Bears fullback Jason McKie; that program aired on WLS 890 AM and The Game 87.7 FM. Jason has also performed play-by- play duties for various college sports. Jason is a Chicago-area native who credits his parents, Alan Goch and the late Janice Goch, for giving him the encouragement and confidence to succeed in the competitive world of sports broadcasting.

Brett Rowland is an award-winning journalist who has worked as an editor and reporter in newsrooms in Illinois and Wisconsin. He is an investigative reporter for The Center Square.

Brett lives in suburban Chicago. He can be reached at browland@thecentersquare.com.

Kevin Bessler reports on statewide issues in Illinois for the Center Square. He has over 30 years of experience in radio news reporting throughout the Midwest.

Kevin can be reached at kbessler@thecentersquare.com.

With years of award-winning broadcast experience in the Springfield market, Greg Bishop now reports on Illinois government and other statewide issues for The Center Square.

​Bishop is a graduate in communication and political studies from the University of Illinois-Springfield. He lives just south of the Capital City with his wife Meghan where they garden, train for long-distance races, and travel across the Midwest attending various concerts.

Brett Davis reports on Washington state government for The Center Square. He previously worked for public policy organizations the Freedom Foundation and Washington Farm Bureau, as well as various community newspapers.

Brett can be reached at bdavis@thecentersquare.com.

Casey Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau. He previously worked as a reporter for The Daily Caller and The Hill and as an executive producer for Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, USA Today and other outlets.

Casey can be reached at charper@thecentersquare.com.

Anthony Hennen is a reporter for The Center Square. Previously, he worked for Philadelphia Weekly and the James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal. He is managing editor of Expatalachians, a journalism project focused on the Appalachian region.

Anthony can be reached at ahennen@thecentersquare.com.

Andrew Hensel reports on issues in Chicago and Statewide. He has been with The Center Square News since April of 2021 and was previously with The Joliet Slammers.

Andrew can be reached at ahensel@thecentersquare.com.

Madison Hirneisen is a staff reporter covering Virginia and Maryland for The Center Square. Madison previously covered California for The Center Square out of Los Angeles, but recently relocated to the DC area. Her reporting has appeared in several community newspapers and The Washington Times.

Madison can be reached at mhirneisen@thecentersquare.com.

TJ Martinell is a native to Washington and has been reporting in the state since his high school days. His work has been recognized numerous times by the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association and the Society for Professional Journalists.

TJ can be reached at tmartinell@thecentersquare.com.

Scott McClallen is a staff writer covering Michigan and Minnesota for The Center Square. A graduate of Hillsdale College, his work has appeared on Forbes.com and FEE.org. Previously, he worked as a financial analyst at Pepsi.

Scott can be reached at smcclallen@thecentersquare.com.

Joe Mueller covers Missouri for The Center Square. After seven years of reporting for daily newspapers in Illinois and Missouri, he spent the next 30 years in public relations serving non-profit organizations and as a strategic communications consultant.

Joe can be reached at jmueller@thecentersquare.com.

Spencer Pauley reports on Seattle and the King County area of Washington. He previously worked as an independent documentary filmmaker and worked on the documentary series titled: “The Clinton Affair” a series investigating the history leading to the impeachment proceedings of former President Bill Clinton.

Spencer can be reached at spauley@thecentersquare.com.

Jon Styf is an award-winning editor and reporter who has worked in Illinois, Texas, Wisconsin, Florida and Michigan in local newsrooms over the past 20 years, working for Shaw Media, Hearst and several other companies.

Jon can be reached at jstyf@thecentersquare.com.

Cole McNeely is the General Manager of America’s Talking. Cole has extensive experience in radio, podcasting, and social media. In 2016, he leveraged his social media and podcast following to interview six major party presidential candidates. Cole graduated from Hillsdale College with a B.A. in Marketing Management and holds a M.A. in Communication from Drake University.

Cole can be reached at cmneely@franklinnews.org.