www.roanoke.com

Stephanie Ogilvie: Dayside delivery editor for roanoke.com

As dayside delivery editor — aka our online city editor — Stephanie is the first person in our newsroom each morning, arriving by 7:30 a.m. She updates the site throughout the day and is the official voice of The Roanoke Times social media. She uses Twitter, Facebook, blogs, e-mail updates and text messages to deliver news and information. Before moving into that role, Stephanie planned and edited our entertainment section, Inside Out, for four years.

Hometown: Southwest Roanoke County (go Cave Spring!)

College: George Mason University (B.A. Integrative Studies … mostly English and media classes); Hollins University (M.A.L.S., Social Sciences)

 Why journalism: At first, because it forced me to conquer my shyness by asking strangers questions. In college, late nights at the student newspaper appealed to my inner dork. But now, I stick with it because I can be creative every day. And this is totally cliche, but I’ve always wanted to make a difference through teaching , and journalism offers some of the biggest, most influential classrooms available.

Years in journalism: If high school newspaper counts, then 15 years

Years at The Roanoke Times | roanoke.com: I just celebrated my 10th anniversary with the RT! I started as a part-time editorial assistant, compiling the weekend calendar. Now I’m wrangling breaking news, constantly refreshing roanoke.com throughout the day, and sending out Tweets (@roanoketimes) and Facebook posts, among other random duties.

Other newsrooms where you have worked: Connection community newspaper chain in Northern Virginia’s suburbs (covering McLean, Vienna, Oakton, Reston and more); George Mason University’s student newspaper (Broadside)

Proudest journalism accomplishments: Launching and editing Inside Out, our entertainment tabloid aimed at 18- to 34-year-olds (2004 to 2007) —- our creative team delighted in being funny and useful each week .

Journalists you admire and why:

•  Tim Harrower: He’s a design guru that helped me see how stories can be more useful and just plain fun. I re-designed our college newspaper with the help of his book, “The Newspaper Designer’s Handbook.” When he spoke in The Roanoke Times newsroom years ago, I sat in the front row like a rock band groupie.
• Molly Ivins: The late Texan firecracker explained gargantuan, dry, governmental policies with humor — and through moving stories about the individuals affected by them. The point of watchdog journalism, no?
• Jon Stewart, Bill Maher and their writing teams: Some might argue they aren’t really journalists, but both of these razor-sharp comedians mix humor and headlines in effective ways — and they reach audiences that might not seek out traditional news.

Web sites you visit regularly: Besides roanoke.com and my Facebook page? I’m a Google addict — and not just for search, but most of their free tools: I couldn’t survive without Google Calendar and Google Docs, especially. I use Google Reader and Twitter to keep up with stories from all kinds of websites … and those include the usual news carousel (Washington Post, New York Times, Salon, Slate, Huffington Post ) to personal finance, entrepreneurial and party-planning bloggers.

Favorites books:

My very influential list includes: “What Would Google Do?” (Jeff Jarvis); “Building a Bridge to the 18th Century: How the Post Can Improve Our Future” (Neil Postman); “The Rise of the Creative Class” (Richard Florida); “Candide” (Voltaire)

Favorite movies: Or movies I actually own … most of them are from my ’80s childhood: Clash of the Titans (original version!), The Dark Crystal, Willow, Shelley Duvall’s Faerie Tale Theatre, Christmas Vacation, Funny Farm, Galaxy Quest. I could talk for hours about my middle-school obsession with “Memphis Belle.”Most recently: Inception.

Interests outside of work: Bargain hunting … antiquing for my dream Tudor cottage … learning about Salem’s history …. keeping up with two rambunctious chihuahuas … watching entirely too much HBO and Bravo.