Tampa Bay Times hires new retail reporter

Tampa Bay Times business editor Chris Tisch sent out the following announcement to the staff:

I’m pleased to announce that Justine Griffin will be our new retail reporter in the business department.

Justine has covered the retail/restaurant beat for the Sarasota Herald-Tribune for the last 2 1/2 years. She is a hard-charging reporter who breaks news and is always ahead of the competition. She also is assisant projects editor at the H-T, where she has used her admirable digital and social media skills to engage readers with the paper’s most ambitious projects. She also edits the paper’s Unravel project, an online business report aimed at young professionals.

Justine gained national attention last year when she wrote a first-person narrative about her experience as an egg donor. The ambitious piece — at times harrowing in its depiction of what an egg donor must endure — was published in a special section and was presented in impressive fashion online. Justine is also on the board of directors of the Journalism & Women Symposium.

Justine is a University of Central Florida graduate who also has worked at the Orlando Business Journal, the St. Augustine Record and the Sun-Sentinel in Fort Lauderdale. She is a Pasco County native who is an avid equestrian; she has a horse named Belinda.

We are excited to bring Justine’s skills and energy to the business department.

Please join me in welcoming her aboard.