Words. Just liked reading them at first, but then discovered I liked polishing other people’s prose and squeezing it into tight spaces. Who wants words that confuse or waste your time, after all?
Started as a newspaper copy editor and page designer, working in New York, Massachusetts, South Carolina and Kansas. Became a city editor and then a team leader. Never wrote regularly except for headlines and CD reviews but learned a great deal from editing writers good and bad. Finally started writing a lot after leaving newspapers behind in 2003 and haven’t stopped since.
Newspapering and years on my own have trained me to get up to speed quickly on topics ranging from education to medicine to aviation to leadership to the intricacies of rivets and sheet metal. I’ve learned to dig through piles of information, plan large projects and break content into big themes and bite-size pieces. I’m well accustomed to working under and meeting deadlines.
Words? I craft them. I fix them. I make them work well with pictures and display type. Bring them on.
Brian Whepley
Awards
- 2018 Heart of America Silver Award in the magazine story category from the Kansas City Press Club. The article, Revealing What Hides in Plain Sight, looked at research by Kansas professors about how police investigative stops disproportionately affect racial minorities. The article appeared in The Journal, a magazine from the Kansas Leadership Center that recently won a top national journalism award.
- 2017 Heart of America Gold Award in the public service category from the Kansas City Press Club. My article in the Kansas Leadership Center Journal (The Number of Kansans Not Voting Would Fill Kauffman Stadium Over 18 Times) detailed the challenges of trying to increase voter participation.
- 2009 Silver Wilmer Shields Rich Award in the special reports category from the Council on Foundations for Confidence to Lead, a report summarizing the Kansas Community Leadership Initiative.
- National YMCA communications award. The Greater Wichita YMCA received this honor for its 125th anniversary history book, of which I served as primary writer.
Education
- Bachelor’s in journalism, University of Kansas, 1986.
- Bachelor’s in history, with concentration in American history, University of Kansas, 1984.
Earlier work experience
Wichita Eagle, 1992 to 2002: Learning Team leader, Presentation Team co-leader, news editor, assistant copy desk chief, front-page designer, local news designer, copy editor.
Herald-Journal, Spartanburg, S.C., 1989 to 1992: Front page designer and copy editor, local and business designer and copy editor.
Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass., 1988 to 1989: Copy editor, local news designer, assistant city editor.
Westchester Rockland Newspapers, White Plains, N.Y., 1987 to 1988: Copy editor.
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