Staff news: Brandi Grissom, Amy Fiscus, Melody Petersen join L.A. Times

Times editors have announced three additions to the newsroom staff -- enterprise editor; an assistant editor in Washington, D.C.; and an aerospace reporter:

From Times Editor Davan Maharaj and Managing Editor Marc Duvoisin:

As managing editor of the nonprofit Texas Tribune, Brandi Grissom has been a force for outstanding investigative journalism. So we’re thrilled to announce that she is heading to Los Angeles to join The Times’ Metro staff.

As Enterprise Editor, Brandi will help editors in Metro shoulder the workload of investigative and enterprise editing. She’ll also use her organizational and digital skills to help us plan and manage our projects more effectively. She will report to Shelby Grad.

The Texas Tribune focuses on investigative, policy and political reporting. Brandi has worked at the news site since it launched in 2009. She knows her way around data and video, and she has excelled as both an investigative reporter and editor.

“Hurting for Work,” a recent series she oversaw, exposed holes in Texas’ safety net for workers killed or injured on the job. (Find the stories here.)

Previously, Brandi covered criminal justice for the Texas Tribune. She and colleague Justin Dehn won a 2012 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for their coverage of the case of Megan Winfrey, a Texas woman who was sentenced to life in prison for murder, only to be freed after bloodhound evidence used against her was discredited.

Brandi spent four years at the El Paso Times, where she was a one-woman state capitol bureau and won an Associated Press Managing Editors award in 2007 for effective use of the Freedom of Information Act. The ACLU of Texas named her legislative reporter of the year in 2007 for her reporting on immigration.

A native of Alliance, Neb., she has a degree in history from the University of Texas, where she was managing editor of the Daily Texan.

Please join us in welcoming her to Los Angeles.

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From Washington Bureau Chief David Lauter:

I’m extremely happy to announce that Amy Fiscus will be joining us as an editor.

Amy comes to us from the AP, where she has won a reputation among both reporters and fellow editors for intelligence, dexterity with copy and keen news judgment. As an editor on AP’s East region desk, Amy directed significant enterprise on subjects such as the Affordable Care Act while also working on some of the biggest breaking news stories of the past few years, including coordinating on-site coverage of the Newtown school shooting. In between those assignments, she edited the manuscript for “Enemies Within,” Adam Goldman and Matt Apuzzo’s book on the problematic record of the N.Y. Police Department’s intelligence unit.

“Reporters enjoy working for her. Everyone likes her. Who the hell says that about an editor?” said one of her colleagues when asked recently to assess Amy’s work.

Before working at AP, Amy was an editor at the Charlotte Observer. She’s a graduate of the University of Missouri journalism school. She’ll start Aug. 18.

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From Business Editor Kimi Yoshino:

I’m pleased to announce that Melody Petersen, an award-winning investigative reporter, is joining the Business staff to cover Southern California’s far-flung aerospace industry. Nearly all the nation’s big aerospace companies have major facilities in the Southland – not to mention upstarts like SpaceX, drone makers like AeroVironment and the ancillary space businesses around Mojave.

Melody has spent her career reporting and explaining complicated topics. At the Orange County Register, she was a Loeb Award finalist this year for her story about a $22-million capital appreciation bond that cost taxpayers $280 million. Previously, she covered the pharmaceuticals business at the New York Times and wrote an investigative book on the drug industry, “Our Daily Meds.” She also worked at the Philadelphia Inquirer and the San Jose Mercury News, where she won a Loeb Award for an investigative series about a California power company.

Her past editors describe her as “a pro” who can “do anything.” Being a certified public accountant doesn’t hurt either. Melody has a master’s in journalism from the University of Maryland in College Park and a bachelor’s of business administration degree in accounting from the University of Iowa. She starts Aug. 26.