Michael Hinman

About Michael Hinman

No matter what I do to try something new, every path in my life leads back to the same place: Journalism. Whether it\'s print, digital, podcasting/radio — everything but television, because I don\'t quite have the look for that. When it\'s all said and done, I have 30 years of print journalism experience as well as more than 19 years digital (that was simultaneously — I\'m not that old). Up until March 2022, I was the editor of The Riverdale Press, a Pulitzer Prize-winning hyperlocal community newspaper in the Bronx, which has won 40 New York Press Association awards under my leadership against some solid competition all over New York City and New York state. That includes the top prize for overall general excellence in 2020 and 2021, and best overall design in 2018 and 2021. I am now executive editor of not only The Press, but 22 other newspapers owned by our fantastic parent company, Richner Communications, known as Herald Community Newspapers. I created the name \"SyFy.\"​ I wanted a unique way to say \"sci-fi\" for my first website back in 1998, and was inspired by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I almost went with ScyFy, but it looked awkward, so \"SyFy\" it was. That\'s now the property of NBCUniversal, and they are doing a great job with that branding after more than a decade. I type faster than most people talk, and I think faster than I type. I\'m not sure if that\'s a great combination, or a scary one. But I\'m a stickler for efficiency and quality, and believe they can both go hand-in-hand on every story. I don\'t like the term \"article,\" instead preferring \"stories,\" because I feel the best news stories start with people and end with people. If you\'re not experiencing something through the eyes of someone who is actually experiencing it, can you actually feel the details? Live them? News stories to me should be something you could read aloud, almost as if you\'re sitting with a friend and sharing that story over a cup of coffee (or, in my case, a Coke Zero). I never sleep. I\'m seemingly always working. And I don\'t know what a vacation is (and really don\'t want to find out). I spent two years on the beautiful Caribbean island of Grenada, trying to get away from it all, but still ended up serving as an editor for an entertainment news site, and covering a murder trial for a Canadian newspaper. But you know what? I wouldn\'t have it any other way. Specialties: Government, elections, real estate, marketing, technology, sports, community, projects, planning, media relations, environment, newspapers, entertainment.

Experience

1. Executive Editor

   Richner Communications, Inc

   Mar 2022 — Present · Garden City, NY, US

   Leads a team of more than 30 reporters, editors and photographers across 23 hyperlocal newspapers that make up Herald Community Newspapers in Long Island\'s Nassau County, as well as The Riverdale Press in the Bronx — a team that has won 10 state awards through the New York Press Association. Responsible for setting the newsroom\'s overall strategic direction, while fostering engagement between that newsroom and local communities. Serving as chief storyteller.