News Items expands its editorial team with two new hires

News Items has tapped Mary Williams Walsh to serve as managing editor and Joanna Thompson to serve as a science editor.

In her new role, Walsh will oversee daily operations and serve as a financial columnist.

Recently, she covered the intersection of finance, public policy and the aging population for The New York Times. She has also worked at The Wall Street Journal and the Los Angeles Times.

Thompson’s work has appeared in MIT Technology Review, Quanta, Scientific American, Vox, Audubon and Atlas Obscura. Thompson has degrees from North Carolina State University and New York University. Thompson qualified two times for the Olympic Marathon trials and placed 10th in the 2018 Boston Marathon.

In addition, Tom Smith has also been hired as a research director. Smith brings almost two decades of marketing research and analysis experience to his new role. Previously, he held the post of associate editor at News Items. He has also worked at leading national advertising and PR agencies.

“We’re thrilled to have Mary, Joanna and Tom on the News Items team,” said John Ellis, the founder and editor of News Items and Political New Items. “The goal was to hire great people to make the newsletters better and we’ve done exactly that.”

News Items is a newsletter covering global politics, financial news, advanced technologies and science.