MONTCLAIR LOCAL ANNOUNCES THE APPOINTMENT OF LOU HOCKMAN AS NEW EDITOR IN CHIEF

[Montclair, New Jersey – January 21, 2021] Montclair Local, the only independent news organization exclusively focused on Montclair, announced today that Louis C. Hochman has been named its Editor in Chief.  Hochman previously served as the Digital Managing Editor for New Jersey 101.5 FM, the state’s largest news station.  In his new role, he will serve as the Local’s highest-ranking member of the editorial team; manage its team of reporters, editors and freelancers; determine the publication’s policies and budget; and oversee all editorial aspects of the newspaper.

His appointment comes at an instrumental time for Montclair Local.  Last year, Montclair Local announced ambitious plans to transition to a non-profit and established a Board of Trustees that includes Montclair residents, former Associated Press Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll, ProPublica Editor-in-Chief Stephen Engelberg, former Assistant Managing Editor of the New York Times David Jones, Editor in Chief of the New York Times Magazine Jake Silverstein and other community leaders.

Since the transition, the Local has been the recipient of grants from NewsMatch and Facebook’s COVID-19 Local News Relief Grant Program, has seen a 400 percent increase in its digital audience, and has seen its pay membership grow by more than 3,000 Montclair households. The Local has won the New Jersey Press Association’s Award for General Excellence two years in a row and has won more than 40 separate awards for its news coverage.

“Lou has a deep understanding of how local journalism is an important fiber in the community, binding us together,” said Carroll, who led the nationwide candidate search. “He has great instincts for what people want to know, building stories around those questions, and an infectious enthusiasm for telling stories in new and inviting ways.”

“During this moment of tremendous challenge, where reporters are literally risking their lives covering the COVID-19 epidemic and serving as guardians of truth and facts, we see a community in Montclair that is coming to together to support independent, local journalism,” stated Matthew Frankel, President of Montclair Local’s Board of Trustees. “We are proud to see our community creating this movement, proud of their support, and lucky to have Lou leading it into the future.”

As Digital Managing Editor, New Jersey 101.5, Hochman directed a news team responsible for breaking news and enterprise journalism.  Under his leadership, Hochman built innovative products and workflows that made it possible for New Jersey 101.5’s journalists, talk show hosts, and DJs to tell richer stories through multimedia and social media, and guided the station to a quintupling of its digital audience over five years. In his role, he directed a series of news reports that prompted new statewide guidelines for all members of the State judiciary to receive needed training in the area of sexual violence, and he co-created, filmed and produced “Heroin Uncut: The Truth About the Crisis,” a video and podcast series that in 2017 won The New Jersey Association of Mental Health and Addiction Agencies’ “Truth in Media” award. He and his team also collected several New Jersey and Keystone Society of Professional Journalism award. Before joining New Jersey 101.5, Hochman led two local news teams for NJ.com in Morris and Somerset Counties, led teams for the hyperlocal network Patch and was an editor on the digital desk for Morris County’s Daily Record.

On Saturday, January 23rd, Lou will be available for an informal town hall to connect with members of the Montclair community on Facebook Live, at Facebook.com/montclairlocal/. 

For more information on Montclair Local, please go to montclairlocal.news