WELCOME TO MCPHERSON, and thanks for reading.
McPherson is an independent journalism outlet based in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, which began publishing in March 2018. My goal is to add a fresh and assertive voice to the local and national media landscape through a mix of analysis, investigative reporting and commentary.
McPherson focuses on enterprise reporting, meaning stories that are not based on news conferences or public announcements. Coverage areas include economic development, politics, media, demographics and public policy, as well as disparities along racial and class lines.
My approach is to try and link thoughtful writing with the tenets of good reporting (rigorous sourcing and fact-checking, a healthy sense of skepticism, and a willingness to consider multiple sides of an issue). The aim is to write stories that other media outlets aren’t covering, and re-examine issues that may not have received enough attention elsewhere or have simply fallen out of the headlines.
McPherson is named for the street in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis where I live.
Jack Grone, Editor (jgrone@mcphersonpublishing.com)
I’m a native of the St. Louis area. My background includes the Peace Corps, Wall Street and the City of London.
Between 1996 and 2005 I was a reporter and editor at Dow Jones Newswires. I started at Dow Jones in the Budapest, Hungary bureau, covering the Hungarian economy, privatizations of state-owned assets, monetary and fiscal policy, and various topics related to the European Union. Later I was a reporter and news editor in the London bureau, covering mergers & acquisitions, technology & telecommunications, and the UK stock market. My first journalism job was at the St. Louis Business Journal in the early 1990s.
More recently I worked in public relations. From August 2014 to June 2017 I was senior vice president and head of corporate communications for Wells Fargo Advisors, the third largest brokerage firm in the United States. Prior to this I worked for Credit Suisse Securities beginning in 2006, first in London and then in New York, where I led media relations for the Investment Banking Department and supported groups that advised corporate clients in mergers & acquisitions, equity and debt capital markets, private equity, energy and technology & telecommunications.
I served as a volunteer English teacher in the Peace Corps in Hungary from 1993 to 1995.
Disclosures
Transparency is one of the foundations of trust and credibility. With this in mind, it seems fair to disclose a few things about McPherson and about myself.
About McPherson: The site’s content is free. There are no paywalls or subscription requirements. I do not solicit advertising or ask for contributions; I publish the site because I believe cities like St. Louis should have robust media environments and that there’s no such thing as too much investigative journalism.
The site costs roughly $1,000 a year to operate. I cover these costs with income from occasional freelancing assignments and rental proceeds from a condo I own. The publishing entity, McPherson Publishing LLC, is a limited liability company (sole proprietorship) registered in the state of Missouri.
If you’d like to redistribute McPherson’s content or use it for any commercial purpose, please ask first. If you’d like to be added to the e-mail distribution list for McPherson’s stories, please drop me a note at jgrone@mcphersonpublishing.com.
Now myself:
Since September 2019 I’ve served on the board of Washington University Student Media Inc., the nonprofit which oversees the university’s independent student newspaper, Student Life.
From March 2016 to March 2018 I served on the board of directors of PROMO, Missouri’s statewide organization advocating for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality. PROMO engages in lobbying activities in Missouri and its 501(c)(4) arm engages in both lobbying and political campaign activities.
I donated to Hillary Clinton’s campaign for president during 2016. My husband donated in 2020 to the campaign of Yinka Faleti, Democratic candidate for Missouri secretary of state.
Lyda Krewson, former mayor of St. Louis, was formerly my alderwoman when she represented the 28th Ward. During my time as president of the 4300 McPherson Block Association (2014-2017), Krewson regularly responded to requests for assistance. In 2016 she helped connect our block to officials at the St. Louis City Street Department to explore traffic-calming measures for the street. In 2015 my husband and I participated in a beautification project organized by Krewson to plant sunflowers along Delmar Boulevard. I have not donated to Krewson’s campaigns.
