Our Team

The editors behind the coverage.

Every story on First for News passes through the people below. They decide what runs, hold the corrections record, and answer for what the publication publishes.

Editorial leadership

Who runs the newsroom

Michelle Hastings
Michelle Hastings
Editor-in-Chief

Michelle leads the newsroom from Baltimore. Her career spans more than fifteen years in editorial leadership at national and regional publications, with a background that includes both reporting and editing. She sets the standards for what runs, oversees the corrections process, and is the final authority on questions of what the publication will and will not publish. She holds a degree in journalism from a university on the East Coast.

BaltimoreEditorial deskDaily coverage
Patrick Alvarez
Patrick Alvarez
Managing Editor

Patrick manages the day-to-day operations of the newsroom from Austin. He is responsible for the editorial calendar, story assignments, and the flow of publication across the desks. His background is in digital publishing operations at national media organizations, and he brings to the role the working conviction that a newsroom runs on clear communication, reasonable deadlines, and unmistakable editorial priorities.

AustinEditorial deskDaily coverage
Angela Simmons
Angela Simmons
Business Editor

Angela runs the business and economy desk from Milwaukee. Her reporting career includes more than a decade covering business, finance, and household economics at regional and national publications. She is the editor most likely to reach for the underlying data on a story and the one who insists on distinguishing what a company has actually announced from what its press release wants readers to think it announced.

MilwaukeeEditorial deskDaily coverage
Kevin Manning
Kevin Manning
Standards Editor

Kevin oversees the publication's standards program from Boise. He handles fact-checking on sensitive material, manages the corrections record, and serves as the point of contact for readers and named subjects who identify errors in published pieces. His background is in editorial standards and compliance at national organizations, and he is the in-house authority on the publication's stylebook and the placement of commas in compound sentences.

BoiseEditorial deskDaily coverage

Found an error? Tell an editor.

Corrections and reader concerns are handled by the editorial team responsible for the published coverage.

Contact Us →