Ryan Kneller
Ryan Kneller tracks the shifting landscape of local food and consumer businesses, showing how new restaurants, breweries and shops take root across WFMZ‑TV’s 69News coverage area. He is a journalist with 69News who focuses on food and beverages, hospitality and leisure, and retail, with a strong emphasis on regional stories. His reporting centers on openings, expansions and milestones for family-run eateries, cafes, breweries and other customer-facing businesses.
Restaurant openings and family-run expansions
Kneller’s food coverage is anchored in the day-to-day growth of local restaurants, particularly family-run operations that are adding new locations. In one piece, he follows a family-run Mexican restaurant as it opens a second location in the Lehigh Valley, capturing both the expansion and the excitement inside the dining room. He highlights the practical details that matter to diners—where the new location is, what kind of food is served, and how the experience compares to the original—while keeping owners’ voices and customer reactions central to the story. This emphasis on family ownership and incremental growth gives his work a strong small-business lens rather than a generic restaurant-review angle.
Food and drink businesses across the community
Beyond restaurants, Kneller regularly covers food and drink businesses such as cafes, catering companies and breweries. Local operators credit both him and 69News for their “continued interest” in a cafe and catering company, underscoring that his coverage returns to standout businesses over time rather than treating them as one-off stories. His work on brewery news for 69News has been cited in trade industry roundups, showing that his local reporting on new brewery locations and developments resonates beyond the immediate market. This mix of cafes, catering firms and breweries positions him as a go-to reporter for stories about how food and drink entrepreneurs are building their presence and customer base.
Retail and banking developments tied to consumer life
Although food is a core focus, Kneller also reports on broader retail and financial developments that shape local consumer life. His coverage includes a story on a regional bank opening a new branch in a former Bank of America building in Bethlehem, linking changes in the retail banking landscape to the everyday experience of residents who rely on in-person services. This kind of piece reflects his wider brief on customer-facing businesses, where banks, shops and service providers sit alongside restaurants and cafes as part of a single, coherent beat. He tends to situate these developments within the station’s core market, which includes the Lehigh Valley and Berks County, ensuring that openings and closures are framed in terms of local impact.
Regional focus and service-oriented reporting style
Kneller’s stories consistently focus on regional businesses rather than national chains or abstract industry trends. His specialization in food and beverages, hospitality and leisure, and retail is paired with a geographic focus on the community 69News serves, making his coverage highly relevant to local audiences deciding where to eat, shop or bank. He writes in a straightforward, service-oriented style, giving readers clear information on new locations, hours, offerings and ownership, while weaving in quotes that capture the enthusiasm of business owners and patrons. Across food, drink, retail and banking, the through-line is his attention to how local businesses grow, adapt and connect with customers in the region.
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.