User:JanitaPoe

Janita Poe is a Ph.D. candidate in Global Communication at Georgia State University and an award-winning journalist with more than two decades experience in the news business.

She has worked as a staff writer and editor for the Chicago Tribune, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), the St. Petersburg Times and The Orlando Sentinel.

During the 1990s, Janita was a regular education and schools commentator on the popular journalists’ weekly “Chicago Tonight: The Week in Review with Joel Weisman” on WTTW in Chicago. While on staff for the Chicago Tribune, Janita also appeared as an on-air community news reporter for the Tribune Company’s cable station, Chicagoland TV (CLTV).

Janita was a bureau chief and national “roving” reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in the 2000s and parachuted in to cover government and race relations in Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and breaking news stories across the country.

In September 2010, Janita moved to digital media when she became the first editor of Cascade Patch. As editor of Cascade Patch, Janita cultivated a loyal following of readers with her site’s consistent mix of breaking news, features, commentary and evening video reels known as “PatchCasts,” which highlighted the news of the day. She also branded herself as a strong social media influencer on BlogTalkRadio, Quora, Twitpic, Twitter, WordPress and Facebook, where she has the maximum 5,000 “friends.”

In September 2012, Janita became Montgomery hub director for The Alabama Media Group--a digital news operation resulting from the merger of almost all of the major Alabama and Gulf Coast publications including the Birmingham News, The Huntsville Times, the Mobile Press-Register and Al.com, the largest news website in the state.

An Ironman triathlete and age group placer in community-based road races, Janita brings her positive drive and focus to the workplace and excels. Janita has completed one 140.6 Ironman (Chattanooga) and four 70.3 Ironman races as well as three marathons, at least 17 half marathons and several triathlons, including two in which she won “2nd Place Athena.”

In addition to her athletic life, Janita—who speaks some French, Spanish and German —enjoys international travel and foreign language studies.