Margaret Wolf Freivogel, a founder and the editor of the St. Louis Beacon, is a veteran journalist with deep St. Louis roots and a passion for developing the new medium of online news. She wants the Beacon to combine the strengths of traditional reporting with the power of the Web to be instantaneous, in-depth and interactive.
Margie grew up and currently lives in Kirkwood (KHS Class of 1967.) She spent 34 years as a reporter, editor and Washington correspondent for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. She supervised everything from sports and features to nation/world coverage and was instrumental in creating ethics standards. Her groundbreaking coverage of women in politics and other issues won numerous awards, including the National Press Club Washington Correspondent’s Award and the American Bar Association’s Gavel Award. She was president of Journalism and Women’s Symposium, a national organization.
She graduated from Stanford University and is married to William H. Freivogel. They have four grown children. Margie enjoys rowing with the St. Louis Rowing Club and is a fan of chamber music.
Email: mwfreivogel@stlbeacon.org
Twitter: @mwfreivogel
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
Much as Americans may disagree over politics, we share a belief in the public's right to know. This week's controversies were a reminder that a healthy press is vital to a healthy democracy.
Here's the back story on Back Stories, a blog that will kick off in the Beacon soon. Beacon staff will use Back Stories to share some of the questions they're asking and some answers they're finding. It's a small feature that's part of a big commitment to connect with more potential sources and readers.
Clicks, retweets and "likes" are easy to measure. Harder to figure out is why certain odd facts and serendipitous experiences stick in our minds -- and sometimes transform them. How can the Beacon provide more of these memorable moments that shift our understanding of the world?
Five years is a milestone many startups never reach and many skeptics thought we'd never see. But the digital revolution is racing forward, and so must we. A prospective merger with St. Louis Public Radio could transform both organizations and the St. Louis media landscape.
To run 26.2 miles requires tenacity, resilience and commitment in the face of adversity. Monday, with lives on the line, those strengths of the human spirit passed a much more profound test.
It's not the appropriate role of news organizations to impose solutions. But it's very much our role to unearth insights, spread understanding and lay the groundwork for progress. We want St. Louisans to enjoy better health, and we hope Fit City can contribute to that end.
Those who chronically disagree on gun issues should agree on three points. First, more than 7,500 gun deaths in Missouri in a decade is appalling. Second, we should aspire to be a more peaceful society. Third, we must come to grips with some surprising realities behind that number to make progress.
Tuesday's municipal elections will be a humble exercise in democracy, but they will eventually hit home with at least as much force as a national or statewide race -- affecting school quality, property values, neighborhood development and the day-to-day life of about 2 million of the region's Missouri residents.
Sometimes news that matters here happens half a world away. A hometown favorite, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, and the chatty, authoritative reporting of Patricia Rice made the selection of Pope Francis compelling reading in the Beacon this week.
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Meeting in St. Louis next week, the Leadership Conference of Women Religious will have its first opportunity as an assembled group to consider what to do after the Vatican issued a mandate for change this spring. It calls on the conference to reorganize and more strictly observe church teachings.
When a family of four goes to the St. Louis Zoo, they can be forgiven for not knowing it will cost them $60, $72 if they park. If they can't pay, the alternative is to tell the kids they can't do what kids do at the zoo.
Missouri House Speaker Steve Tilley gave reporters less than a half-hour’s notice today when he announced that conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh’s sculptured bust will be formally installed in the Capitol at 1 p.m.
The world seems eager to learn more about Pope Francis, so learning that he admires St. Philippine Duchesne and her spiritual daughters — Argentinean nuns who have been under Francis' spiritual direction as they live among the poor — adds to understanding.
The celebration in Sikeston will reunite residents of the community which was destroyed in May 2011 when the Army Corps of Engineers opened the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway to alleviate flooding on the Mississippi. Residents are still hoping for a FEMA buyout so they can relocate their village.
The Newman Money Museum at Washington University has a quirky pseudo-robot Ben Franklin in the basement that is essentially a TV screen projected into a plastic shell head.
The Beacon's Mary Delach Leonard and Rob Koenig extensively covered flooding in 2011 in Missouri. Now this coverage is compiled in an iBook. Read the stories.
"Lost Egypt," at the St. Louis Science Center, combines real images shot in Egypt with art and artifacts as well as interactive and family-friendly features and explanations of the science used to uncover the ancient world. The exhibit will run through Sept. 2.
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
Organizers aren't trying to replace the rib fest, but music lovers will be able to find tangy sustenance as they listen to such greats as Mavis Staples (pictured), Big George Brock, Trombone Shorty, Kim Massie and Marquise Knox take the stage.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's arts and features editor. You can contact her at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.
Developers on the south side come in all shapes and sizes, with ambitions that vary from single buildings to entire city blocks. In the first of a two-part story, Jason Deem talks about building community.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Twenty winners will split a million dollars and a wide array of professional services after this year's Arch Grants competition. Victors will also see one-on-one business mentoring in their prize package. The diverse group includes everything from biotech concerns to fashion enterprises.
Innovation and entrepreneurial activity are on the rise in St. Louis, especially in bioscience, technology and alternative energy. The Beacon's InnovationSTL section focuses on the people who are part of this wave, what they're doing and how this is shaping our future. To many St. Louisans, this wave is not yet visible. InnovationSTL aims to change that. We welcome you to share your knowledge, learn more about this vibrant trend and discuss its impact.
The Academy of Science-St. Louis hosts tours of EarthDance, an organic farm, and the Monsanto Agronomics and Breeding Facility May 21-22. The workshop is meant to prompt discussion and answer questions about these two competing philosophies of food production.
Speaking to reporters at Monsanto, Howard Buffett warned that future generations would foot the bill for irresponsible soil use. He urged leaders to address thorny issues such as malnutrition and environmental destruction.
Vernon Bowman's challenge to Monsanto Co.'s patent on its Roundup Ready soybean seeds was billed as a David vs. Goliath contest. Goliath won and won big. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that an Indiana soybean farmer had violated Monsanto's patent on its genetically engineered soybean seeds.
Sally Altman is the Beacon's Health and Science editor. You can contact her at saltman@stlbeacon.org.
Opera is for snobs. Country music is for rednecks. Everybody loves Chuck Berry now that he's been around for a few decades, but what about Nelly? Why can't we simply respond to what's before us without dragging preconceptions and prejudices into play?
You have to know your audience: McDonald's regulars don't need free-range chicken or a certain breed of beef; a second-chance high school needs personally motivated students as opposed to people ordered to attend and low-income Democrats by and large don't want a cigarette tax.
Last week, Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura sacrificed his crown as the King of America. He faced an individual decision to play against the best in the nation or the best on the planet. Find out what happened at that world-level tournament.
Donna Korando is the Beacon's Voices editor. You can contact her and submit opinion pieces for possible publication at dkorando@stlbeacon.org.