americanstar:

On Wednesday April 4, 2012, the News Journal Media Group acquired veteran education reporter Khristopher J. Brooks. Brooks, who is currently a master’s degree student at New York University, will join the News Journal team on April 23.

FOR THE NEWS JOURNAL:

For the News Journal, Brooks’s hire means the newsroom has ended its nationwide search for a reporter/writer. The editors were looking for a hard-charging reporter who can operate on all print, online and social media platforms. They were looking for an energetic newshound who is looking to learn and advance. At the end of the search, Brooks was chosen because, “we believe your commitment to narrative storytelling and your natural curiosity make you an excellent fit for our team as we move deeper into the Digital Age,” said David Ledford, the newspaper’s executive editor. Brooks will be the second active News Journal reporter with a master’s degree from NYU. State government reporter Jonathan Starkey also earned a master’s from New York University before joining the News Journal. With the addition of Brooks, the News Journal now has a “Big Three” of Chips Quinn Scholars. Verna Thompson serves as the online manager for Delawareonline.com; Daniel Sato is a photographer/videographer, and Brooks will report. Brooks will be under the supervision of Kevin Richardson, the News Journal’s newly acquired night editor and former business editor of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger.

FOR KHRISTOPHER BROOKS:

Brooks returns to the company (Gannett) that gave him his first ever shot in a professional newsroom. In 2003, Brooks was an intern at the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in Livonia, Mich. He went on to work as an intern for Gannett’s Lansing State Journal under the supervision of Belinda Thurston and Stephanie Angel. Brooks returns full-time to a daily newspaper newsroom for the first time since leaving the Omaha World-Herald in early 2009. He is anxious to work with the News Journal editors because he believes he has already developed a strong rapport with the team. His selection ends an arduous nationwide search for a full-time position before graduating from NYU. Brooks had unsuccessful job interviews at the Waterbury (Conn.) Republican-American and the New York Observer before landing this position. In fact, Brooks applied for more than 30 different reporting positions and fellowships during his final semester of graduate school. While in graduate school, he kept his reporting skills crisp as an intern with the Local East Village and the Huffington Post Black Voices. Brooks is excited that a daily newspaper is interested in his newfound narrative writing skills. He hopes to employ those techniques in daily coverage, in a push to prove to the industry that narrative journalism doesn’t always mean a 5,000-word feature. 

Brooks was fired for posting this fake press release to his Tumblr.