ABOUT
Emma is a digital journalism leader with experience in audience engagement, visual storytelling and editorial product management. Currently, she is the Managing Editor overseeing visuals, digital, audience and regional news for The Baltimore Banner. The Banner recently won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting for a series on the overdose crisis in Baltimore. She was one of the main editors on the project.
Emma also recently completed the Media Transformation Challenge executive leadership fellowship at the Poynter Institute focusing on sustainable regional news expansion.
She is a proud graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is originally from the Tar Heel state. Prior to joining The Baltimore Banner, Patti was the Deputy Managing Editor for Visual and Immersive Experiences at Education Week and lead their multi-platform digital redesign. She also worked at The Baltimore Sun for five years, leading the audience, social media, interactive design and visuals teams and helping the organization become a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize after the death of Freddie Gray and the riots in Baltimore. Her professional background includes positions in web development and multimedia at Baltimore Magazine, Bethesda Magazine, Arlington Magazine and Washingtonian.
In addition, she was chosen to attend the Poynter Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media in St. Petersburg, Fla. in 2017. Patti continues to work with Digital Women Leaders and the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media to mentor the next generation of journalism leaders and early career journalists.
She lives with her son, 2 dogs and 57 house plants in Baltimore, Md.
Experience
Managing editor
The Baltimore Banner
April 2022-present
Executive leadership position overseeing visuals, digital, audience, regional expansion strategy and brand visuals
Architect brand voice and visuals; audience engagement strategy; and digital product experience for non-profit start-up
Lead cross-functional initiatives around subscriber value proposition; user-experience design of editorial and marketing products; and new editorial teams to meet business KPIs
deputy managing editor
Education Week
Jan. 2019 - March 2022
Cross-function leader overseeing visual and digital strategy for all business units in Editorial Products in Education
Lead development of robust editorial products to meet the needs of our various audience personas
Partner with revenue, development and marketing teams to find sustainable solutions to support newsroom projects and products
Spearhead business, content, and UX strategy for multiple website relaunches
Managed UX design, front-end development, and user acceptance work streams during the transformation of edweek.org, new site launched December 2020
Director of Content
The Baltimore Sun
March 2018 - Jan. 2019
Masthead-level position that led all digital editorial strategy for The Baltimore Sun
Directly managed the visuals; interactive design and development; data and analytics; and audience engagement teams
Liaised with revenue and marketing teams to develop creative solutions to support newsroom projects
Oversaw all editorial product development including podcasts, smart speaker briefings, immersive storytelling templates, data visualization tools, and programmatic video
Led all video initiatives, increasing video views 87% year-over-year
Developed social video strategy leading to over 10 million video views in 2016
senior visuals content editor
The Baltimore Sun
March 2016 - March 2018
Helped lead Interactive Design and Audience Engagement teams
Lead designer in the creation and launch of The Baltimore Sun’s responsive website
Created innovative digital products to enhance and re-imagine print journalism for a digital audience
Oversaw digital product launches for BSMG subsidiaries
digital products editor
The Baltimore Sun
May 2014 - March 2016
Re-designed responsive site, standardized branding across print and web
Direct editorial content production and UX
Developed video products to enrich editorial packages
Created new digital revenue through email campaigns and native advertising
Managed email marketing initiatives to grow the Baltimore brand and content awareness
Web designer
baltimore magazine
Dec. 2013 - May 2014
Grew traffic by 464% and increased page views by 538%
Increased interactivity and social audience by 126% on Facebook; 729% on Twitter
Designed and launched new sites for both products
Managed digital marketing initiatives
Web manager
bethesda & arlington magazine
sept. 2011 - nov. 2013
Created award-winning videos
Art directed photo shoots
Edited and retouched photos for print and web
assistant photo editor
washingtonian magazine
august 2009 - sept. 2011
Awards
2025 Pulitzer Prize Winner
Local reporting, for a series on the overdose crisis in Baltimore.
One of four main editors on the project.
2016 Pulitzer Prize finalist
Breaking News, for coverage following the death of Freddie Gray
2024, 2019, 2016 National Headliner Awards
First Place, Online Breaking News, “Key Bridge Collapse”
Second Place, Spot News, “Capital Gazette shooting”
First Place, Spot News, “Baltimore Riots and the Freddie Gray case”
Winner, Investigations Triggered by Breaking News, “The Francis Scott Key Bridge Collapse”
2024 IRE Awards
2020 education writers association
Eddie Prize, “A Year Interrupted”
Al Neuharth Breaking News Reporting Award, Attack on Capital Gazette
2019 News Leaders Association
Breaking News, Coverage of the attack on the Capital Gazette
Breaking News, Coverage of the unrest and the death of Freddie Gray
2019, 2016 National Press Club Award
Breaking News, Freddie Gray coverage
2015 Online Journalism Awards
2017, 2015, 2014 Society for News Design
Award of Excellence, Single-subject project, Shoot to Kill
Award of Excellence, Single-subject project, Korryn Gaines: The 6-Hour Police Standoff
Award of Excellence, Graphics: Features or planned coverage, Shocking Force
Award of Excellence, Breaking/Daily news: Non-planned coverage, Freddie Gray and the Baltimore riots
Award of Excellence, Features: Single-subject project, Unsettled Journeys
Award of Excellence, Use of multimedia, Unsettled Journeys
Award of Excellence, "Undue Force"
Other awards
2019 Society for Features Journalism, Second Place, Integrated Storytelling, The Wait
2018 Society for Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi Award, Coverage of the attack on the Capital Gazette
2016 Society in Features Journalism, First Place, Integrated Storytelling, Fitness Heroes
2016 Online Journalism Awards, Explanatory Reporting, finalist, "Shocking Force"
2016 Online Journalism Awards, Topical Reporting, finalist, "Violence in Baltimore"
2016 Online Journalism Awards, Feature, finalist, "Unsettled Journeys"
2016 National Headliner Awards, Second place, “Unsettled Journeys”
2015 Online Journalism Awards, Investigative Journalism, finalist, "Undue Force"
2011 City and Regional Magazine Association, Honorable Mention for Multimedia
2010 City and Regional Magazine Association, Gold Medal for Multimedia
2010 Webby Awards, Nominee, Student Category, "Hardship & Hope"
2009 NC Press Photographers Association, Honorable Mention for Multimedia
2009 Society for News Design, Best of Multimedia Design Award of Excellence, "Cape Fear to Down Here"
2009 Horizon Interactive Award, Best in Category, College & University, "Cape Fear to Down Here"
2009 NPPA Best of Photojournalism, 1st Place, News or Feature Multimedia Package, "Cape Fear to Down Here"
2009 College Photographer of the Year, Silver Medal, "Hardship & Hope"
Teaching Experience
Fall 2020 - Spring 2022 Interactive Design & Development, University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism
Spring, Fall 2015-2017 - Mass Media Graphics, Towson University
Summer 2013, Spring 2014, & Summer 2014 - Video Journalism, Georgetown University, Master of Professional Studies in Journalism, School of Continuing Studies
Fall 2013, 2014 - Multimedia Storytelling, Georgetown University, Master of Professional Studies in Journalism, School of Continuing Studies
Education
university of north carolina at chapel hill
B.A. Journalism & Mass Communication
Graduated May 2009
poynter institute
2017 Leadership Academy for Women in Digital Media
2024 Media Transformation Challenge Executive Leadership Fellow