Meet the three newest members of the Star-Telegram newsroom
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has made three important additions to its newsroom staff - a sports editor and two investigative reporters.
Mark Dent and Kristian Hernandez joined the Star-Telegram on Monday as investigative reporters.
Dent, 33, worked at the Dallas Morning News and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette as a sports reporter, then as a news reporter for the Billy Penn news website in Philadelphia.
His work includes coverage of the scandal surrounding Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky while with the Post-Gazette and coverage of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia in 2016 with Billy Penn.
Dent has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas.
Hernandez, 33, comes to the Star-Telegram from the Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., where he worked on the state politics team.
He previously worked at The Monitor in McAllen, where he covered breaking news and immigration, among other topics.
Hernandez has a bachelor’s degree in multimedia journalism from the University of Texas at El Paso and a master’s degree in investigative reporting from American University in Washington, D.C.
Hernandez and Dent join current staffer Nichole Manna to form a three-person investigative team.
Otto Strong, 50, joined the Star-Telegram on Dec. 30 as sports editor. Strong has had a lengthy career in journalism, including work as a reporter, night city editor, sports copy editor and Sunday sports editor for Newsday in New York.
More recently, Strong was deputy editor of ESPN The Magazine, where he focused heavily on coverage of the NBA.
He is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and Associated Press Sports Editors. He has attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
Steve Coffman, executive editor of the Star-Telegram, said he is excited to have Dent, Hernandez and Strong join the Star-Telegram newsroom.
“These are experienced professionals who each bring unique talents and skills to their work, all of which will help the Star-Telegram better serve its readers,” Coffman said.
Coffman said he is particularly enthused about the formation of the three-person investigative team. He noted that these hires follow the addition last year of a full-time reporter, Tessa Weinberg, in Austin covering state government.
“We are reinvesting to produce more of the deep, impactful local journalism that we know the people of Fort Worth and Tarrant County want,” Coffman said.