Meredith Howard
Meredith Howard uses service journalism to help readers decide where and what to eat, turning rankings, openings and everyday questions into clear, local guides for the Belleville News-Democrat.
Service journalism with a food focus
Howard is a service journalist for the Belleville News-Democrat, with a remit to answer practical questions for readers and connect them with useful local information. Her food coverage sits squarely in that mission: she reports on which restaurants and shops are worth a visit, what they cost, and how broader trends or rankings matter to people deciding where to eat. Her work often combines straightforward reporting on a news hook — such as a statewide list or a new opening — with concrete takeaways like specific venues, price points and hours.
Beyond food, she also produces explainer pieces on everyday topics, such as a video and story detailing who has the right-of-way at four-way stop signs, showing the same practical, step-by-step approach she brings to dining coverage. That broader service role shapes her tone on the food beat: the stories aim less to critique and more to answer the question “where should I go, and what should I know before I do?”
Best-of lists and local angles on statewide rankings
A recurring strand of Howard’s food reporting is translating statewide or national “best” lists into specific guidance for her readership. When Food Network named deep-dish pizza as Illinois’s most iconic food, she reported on the designation and pointed readers to places they could actually order it in the metro-east, turning a broad ranking into a set of nearby options. In another story, she covered a Yelp-based list of the 10 most popular restaurants in Illinois for the month, highlighting the “mom and pop” kitchen that topped the ranking and explaining what sets it apart.
She uses the same approach with dessert coverage, such as a feature on a family-run ice cream shop named the best in Illinois, paired with recommendations for metro-east favorites from the newsroom. Across these pieces, the pattern is consistent: she takes a statewide or platform-driven list, identifies the venues that matter to her audience, and supplies enough detail — from type of food to local context — for readers to act on the information.
Budget-conscious dining guides
Affordability is another through-line in Howard’s food work, showing up in guides explicitly framed around price. In a story on where to find a meal for $10 or less around southwest Illinois, she assembled a set of restaurants and dishes that fit that threshold, offering options for readers who want to eat out without overspending. The piece focuses on concrete details like menu items and price caps rather than general lifestyle advice, aligning with her service journalism role.
This attention to cost complements her coverage of “most popular” or “best” lists, ensuring that the dining options she surfaces include both headline-grabbing destinations and everyday spots accessible on a budget. For communications teams, it means she is drawn to stories with a clear value proposition for local diners, whether that’s standout quality, strong community roots or notably low prices.
Tracking new restaurants and evolving food scenes
Howard also contributes to coverage of openings and shifts in the local food scene, documenting how new concepts and venues are changing where people can eat and gather. In a feature on Mac’s on Main, Heaterz and other developments, she and colleagues reported on a long-vacant building turned into a restaurant and music space, a Nashville hot chicken concept joining a food hall, a boutique market opening, and food offerings tied to a returning county fair. The story includes specifics such as addresses, hours, planned live music and brunch service, and the mix of food trucks and vendors at the fair, making it a practical guide to what is new and how to experience it.
That kind of coverage shows Howard’s interest in the broader ecosystem around food — not just individual dishes or rankings, but how restaurants, markets, halls and events create new destinations and routines for local residents. Her reporting on new venues uses the same service frame as her guides, giving readers the logistical information they need alongside a snapshot of the concept or atmosphere.
Work across a broader network
Howard’s service journalism role extends across the McClatchy network, where she is listed as a journalist and has bylines in other member publications in addition to the Belleville News-Democrat. These cross-published profiles and stories reinforce her specialization in practical, reader-focused coverage, including food and drink topics. Taken together, her work forms a consistent portfolio: accessible explainers, ranking-based roundups and opening news that help people navigate daily life, with food as a primary but not exclusive focus.
4 more food journalists.
Aaron Guerrero
Aaron Guerrero is head of the digital department at Miami’s Community Newspapers, where he pairs restaurant coverage with community-facing content. He focuses on how Miami-area restaurants evolve, celebrate, and experiment through new concepts, menus, and neighborhood-focused dining experiences. He reports on restaurant openings, such as an Italian food hall at Plaza Coral Gables, new executive lunch menus, and wood-fired Latin steakhouse brunches, explaining what sets each venue apart. He also covers awards, like a Wine Spectator honor for an Italian chophouse, and events that turn dining rooms into social hubs. His bylines extend to features on sports-themed gatherings, civic renamings, local visits to restaurant programs, sponsored community pieces, and official notices. His work is straightforward and descriptive, helping readers and local businesses connect around specific openings, promotions, and dining experiences.
Alice Mannette
Alice Mannette blends service journalism with narrative reporting about everyday life, using local food and gathering places to tell broader stories about community. She writes for the St. Cloud Times, focusing on practical guides to ice cream shops, wineries and other neighborhood businesses. Her coverage turns questions like where to eat and what to do this weekend into portraits of local entrepreneurs, weekend plans and the social life of her area. She reports food and drink as usable guides while tracing local history, culture and public safety. She also covers how people record their lives, writing features on diaries, family history and new books that examine archives and memory. Alongside this, she reports civic and public safety news and produces USA TODAY Network service pieces that compile clear, concrete resources for people dealing with storms and other emergencies.
Amanda Mactas
Amanda Mactas links food news, pop culture, and practical consumer advice, showing how brands, products, and personalities appear in everyday eating. She is an associate editor at Delish, reporting news and feature stories that span celebrity-driven launches, competitive eating, value-focused roundups, and taste tests. Her beat covers food culture, event-driven food deals, brand campaigns, product testing, grocery finds, and shopping guides, all with a clear service angle. She reports through specific products, personalities, and major sports days or holidays, using them to explain broader trends, marketing tactics, and consumer value. Beyond Delish, she works as a freelance writer and editor across food, travel, health, and lifestyle outlets, profiling founders, public markets, restaurant culture, wellness, and travel, and tying everyday eating to place, wellness, and routine in accessible, utility-focused prose.
Amelia Jones
Amelia Jones is a Fox 4 News reporter who makes major moments in Texas life feel close by centering ordinary people, often through food, fandom and everyday routines. She now reports across web, on-air and social video, keeping the camera and narrative on fans’ faces, crowd noise and local venues as she covers World Cup visitors trying Tex-Mex, FIFA fan festivals and standout supporters whose energy defines the stadium mood. She explains state legislative debates on issues like abortion pills in clear, practical terms, breaking down complex bills and legal analysis into real-world consequences. She reports on trials, crime, explosions and traumatic incidents through witnesses, victims and families, and spends time with small business owners and neighborhood groups in East Dallas. She joined Fox 4 News in 2023 and links daily life to the larger forces that shape Texas.