Meet Jason Spencer: Your New Patch Local Editor

Hello, big pond. I'm a little fish.

My name is Jason Spencer and I've been a journalist for more than a decade, mostly in the Carolinas. I don't watch NASCAR, I don't go hunting and I don't own anything with a Confederate Flag on it. But I can tell you a thing or two about barbecue.

For the last six years, I've been in South Carolina's Upstate, the buckle of the Bible Belt and a place where Republican Party politics is a bloodsport. Primaries are vicious and grudges last a long, long time.

The philosophical shift is just one of the things that makes covering the Republic of Arlington, as I've heard it called, such a change of pace -- that, and the fact you have something called "rush hour" here.

I've covered everything from school plays and scholarship contests to serial killings and scandals. I've worked nearly every beat in the various newsrooms I've been a part of. But those newsrooms have gotten smaller and smaller. Our industry has lost a lot of good people and a lot of good experience. One of the things that attracted me to Patch is that this company is trying new things in an industry that desperately needs to keep trying new things.

I'm not married, but my lovely girlfriend has put up with me for nearly five years. She recently earned her master's degree in international affairs at George Washington University, and so we've decided to make this area our home.

I look forward to exploring your culturally rich, diverse community -- and becoming a part of it.

If you ever need anything, I can be reached at jason.spencer@patch.com. I'm also on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Let's try something new together.