SCOTT GILLESPIE
Editorial page editor and vice president

Scott has been editorial page editor since 2007 and has overall responsibility for the Editorial Department. He was the lead editor on “Separate and Unequal,” the series of editorials on underfunded Bureau of Indian Education schools that was a finalist for a 2015 Pulitzer Prize.

Before joining Editorial, Scott was managing editor at the Star Tribune, responsible for the day-to-day operations of the newsroom. During his five-year tenure in that role, the news staff produced awarding-winning coverage on the death of Paul Wellstone, the war in Iraq and the collapse of the I-35W Bridge. Before being named managing editor, Gillespie served as the paper’s assistant managing editor for local news and assistant managing editor for business news. He has more than 30 years of news reporting and editing experience at newspapers in Wisconsin and Minnesota. He served as a Pulitzer Prize juror in 2004, 2005, 2011 and 2012. Gillespie has a bachelor's degree in journalism and political science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been an adjunct faculty member in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Minnesota. He lives in St. Paul with his family.

E-mail: scott.gillespie@startribune.com
Twitter: @stribgillespie

 

JILL BURCUM
Editorial writer

Jill has been an editorial writer since March 2008, joining the Editorial Board after working in the newsroom as an editor and reporter. She is a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for editorial writing. “Not This Mine. Not This Location,” which focused on copper mining’s risk to the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, was recognized in 2020. Her "Separate and Unequal" series on dilapidated Bureau of Indian Education schools was a finalist in 2015, and she also testified before Congress that same year about these schools' poor condition. Burcum graduated magna cum laude from the University of Washington in 1991 and started her career as a reporter for the Rochester Post-Bulletin. She previously worked for Mayo Clinic and Ican Inc.

E-mail: jill.burcum@startribune.com
Twitter: @JBurcum

 

DENISE JOHNSON
Editorial writer

Denise has been an editorial writer at the Star Tribune since 1996. Before joining the editorial board, she was a reporter, editor, columnist and editorial writer at the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and wrote editorials for the Miami Herald. She currently writes about urban affairs and a variety of other topics, but specializes in covering K-12 education. Johnson has also worked for the American Society of Newspaper Editors in Washington, D.C., and done diversity training locally and nationally. Earlier in her career, she hosted and produced news and issues public affairs shows on Twin Cities public television. The recipient of several journalism awards, she was honored in 2007 with the Frank Premack Graven award for career contributions to public journalism. Johnson lives with her husband in St. Paul, her hometown, and they have one grown daughter.

E-mail: denise.johnson@startribune.com

 

PATRICIA LOPEZ
Editorial writer

Patricia has more than 30 years working as a reporter, editor and editorial writer in newspapers from California to Virginia. Originally from Chicago, Patricia has called Minnesota home since the early 1990s, and while here has specialized in politics. She started at the Star Tribune in 1992 covering Minneapolis City Hall, moved to the state Capitol bureau, where she covered every major political figure and event in the state, from the late Sen. Paul Wellstone to Gov. Jesse Ventura and several government shutdowns. She became chief political writer and in 2009 political editor, supervising the Star Tribune’s statehouse and Washington D.C. bureaus. Patricia joined the editorial board in 2015, concentrating on national politics, Congress and a broad range of other topics. She can be heard on the Star Tribune’s weekly Playing Politics podcast, done in conjunction with WCCO-AM and is active on social media.

Email: plopez@startribune.com
Twitter: @StribLopez

 

JOHN RASH
Editorial writer and columnist

John is an editorial writer and columnist. His weekly Rash Report column analyzes media news and trends. His focus on foreign policy as an editorial writer has taken him on reporting trips to China, Japan, Turkey, Rwanda, Kuwait and Kazakhstan. John was the recipient of a 2014 Society of Professional Journalists Page One Award for editorial writing. John's commentary can be heard Fridays at 8:20 a.m. as well as weekly on “Playing Politics,” a podcast from the Editorial Board and WCCO-AM (830), the CBS radio affiliate in the Twin Cities. Prior to joining the Editorial Board, John was a senior vice president, director of media analysis for Campbell Mithun, a Minneapolis-based national advertising agency. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota, and has been an adjunct faculty member at the U's School of Journalism and Mass Communication. He lives in St. Louis Park with his wife and two children.

E-mail: john.rash@startribune.com
Twitter: @RashReport

 

D.J. TICE
Commentary editor and columnist

D.J. is the commentary editor, a weekly columnist and a regular contributor to the Playing Politics podcast. He has been a writer, editor and publisher in Twin Cities journalism for nearly four decades. Tice was an editor at Corporate Report Minnesota and Twin Cities magazines, editor and publisher at the Twin Cities Reader, and an editorial writer and columnist for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. From 2003-2009, he was the Star Tribune's state political editor, directing coverage of the Legislature, state government, the Minnesota congressional delegation, and elections. He is the author of two books of popular history. His collection of ordinary Minnesotans' memories, Minnesota's Twentieth Century, published by the University of Minnesota Press, was awarded the Minnesota Book Award for history in 2000.

E-mail: doug.tice@startribune.com
Twitter: @StribDJ

 

STEVE SACK
Cartoonist

Steve was the 2013 Pulitzer Prize winner for editorial cartooning and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004 and 2016. He has won numerous national honors for his work, including a Sigma Delta Chi Award (2003), National Headliner Award (2003), Scripps-National Journalism Award (2004) and the Berryman Award from the National Press Foundation (2006).

E-mail: steve.sack@startribune.com

 

MICHAEL J. KLINGENSMITH
Michael, the Star Tribune’s publisher and CEO, advises the Editorial Board and meets regularly with editorial page editor Scott Gillespie to discuss the board’s positions.

 

JEAN TAYLOR
Jean, chairwoman of the Star Tribune Media Co. board of directors, also advises the Editorial Board.

 

DAVID BANKS
Assistant commentary editor

David is involved in various aspects of production of the opinion pages and online opinion presentation, including the selection of commentaries. Born in St. Paul, he grew up in Prior Lake and Kasson, Minn., before attending college at what is now Minnesota State University, Mankato. He previously worked at the Mankato Free Press, Austin Daily Herald and St. Cloud Times. He’s been at the Star Tribune since 1994.

E-mail: david.banks@startribune.com

 

ELENA NEUZIL
Copy editor and letters editor

Elena is a copy editor for the editorial pages and the Star Tribune letters editor, meaning she reads every contribution from readers that the paper receives (whether via e-mail or handwritten letter) and picks which should be published each day. Before her current role, Elena worked as a copy editor at Thomson Reuters and as a Star Tribune copy editing intern in the newsroom. She graduated from the University of St. Thomas in 2017 with a degree in journalism, hails from and currently lives in St. Paul, and has been reading the Star Tribune since she was a kid.

E-mail: elena.neuzil@startribune.com

 

MAGGIE KELLY
Assistant commentary editor

Maggie designs Star Tribune Opinion’s print pages and is a copy editor for the section as well. She grew up in Hopkins and Bloomington, then traveled south to attend Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in English and creative writing. She previously worked as a managing editor for Tiger Oak Media and got her start at the Star Tribune on the copy desk in 2014.

E-mail: maggie.kelly@startribune.com

 

 

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