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Welcome back, Patch Blogger!

What We Cover

Comprehensive local coverage of Bernardsville, N.J., Bedminster, N.J., Far Hills, N.J. and Peapack Gladstone, N.J. Featuring local news and events, business listings, discussions, announcements, photos and videos.

Meet Your Local Patch Team

Audrey Levine

Audrey Levine, Editor

Audrey is a lifelong (for better or worse) New Jersey resident, having lived in Dayton until she recently moved to Branchburg, just outside of Bridgewater. She is a 2007 graduate of The College of New Jersey (formerly known as Trenton State College, but that name is not to be used if possible), with a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism and professional writing, and a double minor in communications and photography. She is currently enrolled in a Media Management certificate program at The New School, in New York.

Immediately following her graduation, Audrey became a reporter with the Princeton Packet newspaper group, covering Hillsborough and Manville, which was her first foray into the life of Somerset County. After three years spent covering municipal government, she has moved on (and up) to the position of local editor of Bridgewater Patch.

Audrey is very excited to be the new editor of Bridgewater Patch, and is looking forward to the opportunity to cover this great, and quite large, town.

Linda Sadlouskos & Audrey Levine, Editor

Linda Sadlouskos and Audrey Levine are the new editors of Bernardsville-Bedminster Patch, with a focus on the two towns. Linda will focusing her attention on Bernardsville, while Audrey will focus her attention on Bedminster.

Linda, a resident of Basking Ridge, is also the editor of Basking Ridge Patch, a site she has run since September 2010.

Audrey, a resident of Branchburg, is also the editor of Bridgewater Patch, which she launched in July 2010.

Deborah Bell

Deborah Bell, Editor

An alumna of Middlesex County College and Rutgers University, Deborah Bell started her career in New York as an assistant editor for a business magazine and a human rights magazine. She honed her skills for a variety of weekly newspapers, then worked for her hometown paper, the News Tribune. When that paper was consumed by Gannett, she was hired by the hybrid, the Home News Tribune, and moved on to the Trentonian.

Bell has also written for a variety of publications since her college days, and has won several New Jersey Press Association awards for investigative reporting and reporting in the public interest.

Dan Gunderman, Contributor, Editor

Rebecca K. Abma

Rebecca K. Abma, Contributor, Editor, Blogger

Email: RKAbma@gmail.com
Twitter:
RebKA14

Rebecca K. Abma is a writer and mother living in Northwest Bergen County. She is the former editor of Franklin Lakes Patch, having launched the site as aol's 700th Patch site on Dec. 26, 2010.

Terry Boudreau

Terry Boudreau, Contributor, Vine

I have been using a camera for over 45 years.  My grandfather, an amateur photographer and regular contibutor to a local weekly newspaper, gave me a pre-WWII camera (no autofocus or exposure in those days) and sent me on my way with a roll of film and the "sunny 16" rule. 

I love shooting sports of all kinds, wildlife, portraits and auto racing.  I recently took an assignment shooting dance at a local university (a lot like basketball without the ball!).

Mike Deak, Contributor

Michael Daigle, Contributor


About Us

What is Patch?

Simply put, Patch is an innovative way to find out about, and participate in, what's going on near you.

We're a community-specific news, information and engagement platform driven by passionate and experienced new media professionals. Patch is revolutionizing the way neighbors connect with each other, their communities, and the national conversation.

We want to be the most trusted, comprehensive, and relevant news and information resource in your community. What can you do on Patch?

  • Keep up with news and events
  • Check out photos and videos from around town
  • Learn more about local businesses and the people behind them
  • Participate in discussions
  • Share your perspectives via our Local Voices blogging platform
  • Submit your own announcements, photos, and reviews

Who's Behind Patch?

Patch is run by professional editors, photographers, videographers, and salespeople who live in the regions they serve, and is supported by a great team in our New York City headquarters. Patch also gets advice from our Advisory Board and from many members of the community.

We look forward to meeting you and hearing your stories. If you see us around town, don't be afraid to say hi and tell us what you want to see on Patch!

Where You Come In

We hope that our sites will strengthen communities and improve the lives of their residents, but we can't do it without you. We've built Patch so that you have plenty of opportunities to comment on stories, share your opinions, post photos and announcements, and add events to the community calendar. So get to it! And if you're a business owner who wants to be listed, just let us know.

Giving Back

You can't truly serve a community unless you provide the help it needs most, which is why giving back is so important to us. We do it as part of our coverage — in a dedicated space that lets local charities and volunteers find each other — and with a program called "Give 5," through which we donate advertising space to charitable organizations and contribute our own time as volunteers. Want to know more? Email us at give5@patch.com.


Advisory Board

Phil Meyer

Phil Meyer

Phil Meyer is Professor Emeritus in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and was inducted into the North Carolina Hall of Fame in Journalism in the spring of 2008.  He joined the Journalism School in 1981 and served as Knight Chair in Journalism Professor from 1993-2008.  Prior to joining the school, he held a number of reporter and research positions at various media outlets. 

He has won numerous awards including the 2005 Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for Research About Journalism (with Scott Maier). He was named a Fellow of Society of Professional Journalists in 2005. In 2004, the Newspaper Division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication gave him its Professional Freedom and Responsibility Award. And in 2000 he received the American Association for Public Opinion Research Award for Exceptionally Distinguished Achievement.

Meyer is the author of several books including The Vanishing Newspaper:  Saving Journalism in the Information Age and Precision Journalism:  A Reporter’s Introduction to Social Science Methods.  Journalism Quarterly in 2000 listed this book as one of the 35 significant books of the 20th century in journalism and mass communication; and the American Association for Public Opinion Research, observing its 50th anniversary in 1996, listed it as one of 50 significant books on public opinion research.

He received his B.S. in technical journalism from Kansas State University and his M.A. in political science from the University of North Carolina.

Steven Berlin Johnson

Steven Berlin Johnson

Steven Berlin Johnson is a pioneer in the web world, as a co-founder of FEED, Plastic.com, and Outside.in, which was acquired by Patch in March of 2011. He also co-created Findings.com, which launched in late 2011. Steven was the 2009 Hearst New Media Professional-in-Residence at The Journalism School at Columbia University, and served for several years as a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU’s Journalism School. He is a bestselling author of seven books, and won acclaim and a Newhouse School Mirror Award for his 2010 Time Magazine cover story, "How Twitter Will Change the Way We Live." 

Speaking of Steven's editorial prowess, check out this video based on Steven's book, Where Good Ideas Come From, which was named one of the best books of 2010 by The Economist.

Brian Farnham

Brian Farnham, Founding Editor-in-Chief

Brian was Editor-in-Chief of Time Out New York magazine before coming to Patch. Before that he worked for a variety of publications both online and off, including Details magazine, New York Magazine, and the old, dearly departed Sidewalk.com. He has written for numerous publications, from the New York Times magazine to Harper's Bazaar. He graduated from Bowdoin College and got an MFA in creative writing at Columbia University so he could put his novel in a drawer with distinction. He lives in Manhattan with his beautiful wife, adorable son, angelic daughter and the world's most dog-like cat. He’s proud as hell of what the Patch team has built.

Ken Paulson

Ken Paulson, President and Chief Executive Officer of the First Amendment Center

Ken Paulson is president and chief executive officer of the First Amendment Center at Vanderbilt University and in Washington, D.C.

Previously, Paulson served as the editor and senior vice president/news of USA Today.  He is now a columnist on USA Today’s board of contributors, writing about First Amendment issues and the news media.

Throughout his career, Paulson has drawn on his background as both a journalist and lawyer, serving as the editor or managing editor of newspapers in five different states.

He also is past-president of the American Society of News Editors, the nation’s largest organization of news media leaders.

Paulson also was the host of the Emmy-honored television program “Speaking Freely,” seen in more than 60 PBS markets nationwide over five seasons, and the author of "Freedom Sings," a multimedia stage show celebrating the First Amendment that continues to tour the nation's campuses.  

He was an early advocate of making newspaper content available online, launching online newspapers in both Florida and New York in 1993.

For 12 years, Paulson was a regular guest lecturer at the American Press Institute, speaking to more than 5,000 journalists about First Amendment issues. He was honored with the API Lifetime Service Award. In 2010 and 2011, he served as chair of the PBS Editorial Standards Review Committee.

In 2007, Paulson was named fellow of the Society of Professional Journalists, “the highest honor SPJ bestows upon a journalist for extraordinary contributions to the profession.” In 2008, he  received the Robert S. Abbott Memorial Award for Meritorious Service in Mass Communications from the Southern Regional Press Institute. He has also been elected to the Illini Publishing Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois.

He is a graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and the University of Missouri School of Journalism. He also has served as an adjunct professor at Vanderbilt University Law School. In 2008, he received an honorary doctorate in Humane Letters from American University.