Naomi Schalit

Notable work and positions

The Conversation U.S. - senior editor, politics and democracy
Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting / The Maine Monitor - co-founder
Maine Public Radio - former reporter and producer

Biography

Naomi Schalit is senior editor of politics and democracy at The Conversation U.S. and co-founder, with her husband John Christie, of the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, the nonprofit newsroom that publishes The Maine Monitor. A graduate of Princeton University with a degree in religion and Near Eastern studies, she began her journalism career at the San Jose Mercury News before moving to Maine, where she worked as a reporter and producer for Maine Public Radio and edited the opinion pages of two Maine newspapers. She and Christie founded the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting to produce investigative and accountability journalism for the state; her own reporting there included a series on lead poisoning and a multi-part investigation into single parents in poverty in Maine. Schalit's editorial writing on hunger in Maine won first place in the National Sigma Delta Chi Awards and the New England AP News Editors' competition, along with a Publick Occurrences Award from the New England Newspaper Association. In 2024, Schalit and Christie were inducted into the New England Newspaper and Press Association's Hall of Fame for their role in reshaping Maine's news ecosystem.

Career highlights

• Co-founding the Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting · Established the nonprofit newsroom that publishes The Maine Monitor, providing free investigative journalism on Maine politics, education and the environment.
• "For I Was Hungry" editorial series 2007 · First-place National Sigma Delta Chi Award and New England AP News Editors' Award for editorial writing on hunger in Maine.
• NENPA Hall of Fame 2024 · Inducted alongside John Christie for their contributions to Maine journalism.