Beth Macy

Beth Macy is the families beat reporter for The Roanoke Times, where she�s worked since 1989. She�s won state, regional and national awards for writing, including a Southern Journalism Award, a first place in the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors and numerous Virginia Press Association honors.

Her writing from the newspaper's 2006 series on Hispanic growth, "Land of Opportunity," won her an honorable mention for diversity writing from ASNE. Her 2005 series about Somali Bantu refugees, �An Unlikely Refuge,� won the Associated Press Managing Editor�s Online Convergence award, a race-reporting award from Columbia University and was part of The Roanoke Times� winning entry for the Newspaper Association of America�s 2006 Digital Edge Award. The series was also named a finalist for the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism and won several writing, photography and online content honors from VPA.

Between 1997 and 2000, Macy left the newspaper to teach journalism at Hollins University and, during that time, she published numerous articles and essays on need-based financial aid and the uphill battles low-income college students face. Her stories appeared in Salon.com, The Chronicle of Higher Education and The Christian Science Monitor. She also lectured widely on the topic to groups ranging from financial-aid officers to social workers to college presidents.

A native of Urbana, Ohio, Macy has a journalism degree from Bowling Green State University and a master�s in creative writing/English from Hollins University. Prior to working at the Roanoke Times, she was a feature writer for The Savannah News-Press.

She's married to public-television producer Tom Landon, and they have two sons, Max (13) and Will (8).