Evanston Now is the independently-owned local news site for Evanston, Illinois, that covers government, schools, events and business in the city.

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A member of Local Independent Online News Publishers, Evanston Now averages more than 70,000 unique visitors and 200,000 page views per month.

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The Evanston Now team

Bill Smith

Evanston Now publisher Bill Smith was born and raised in Evanston and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from Northwestern University. He also holds a juris doctor degree from Wayne State University in Detroit.

He was a broadcast news reporter, producer and anchor in Detroit and other cities. He taught journalism at Michigan State and Penn State and at Northeastern University in Boston.

He started working in online media in 1994, beginning with Ziff-Davis Publishing’s pioneering project called Interchange and continuing with the Boston-based search engine company Lycos.

He returned to Evanston in 2005 and launched Evanston Now in 2006. He and his wife Jan share their home with a cat named Max.

Reach Bill at bill@evanstonnow.com or by calling 847-733-7526.

Chuck Bartling

A resident of Evanston since 1975, Chuck Bartling holds a master’s degree in journalism from Northwestern University and has extensive experience as a reporter and editor for daily newspapers, radio stations and business-oriented magazines.

He came to the Chicago area in 1965 as chief of the Midwestern News Bureau of the American Banker, a New York-based daily financial newspaper.

He is a past president of the Rotary Club of Evanston Lighthouse and served as a member of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Evanston and the North Shore Senior Center.

A former association executive with the Bank Marketing Association and the Financial Institutions Marketing Association, where he served as president and chief executive officer, he is the author of two books on association management, published by the American Society of Association Executives.

He holds a general class amateur radio license from the Federal Communications Commission under the callsign, W4TVW.

Bartling, who started his professional life as a high school English and journalism teacher and is the father of two Evanston Township High School graduates, covers education and other topics for Evanston Now. His wife, Ann, is an interior designer and president of Ann Bartling Designs.

Reach Chuck at bartling.chuck@gmail.com or by calling 847-869-0655.

Jeff Hirsh

Jeff Hirsh joined the Evanston Now reporting team in 2020 after a 40-year award-winning career as a broadcast journalist.

Hirsh retired in 2019 from WKRC-TV in Cincinnati, Ohio, and moved to Evanston.

He won more than 40 local, regional and national awards for excellence in reporting, including 26 regional Emmy Awards.

Hirsh is also a three-time winner of the Sigma Delta Chi Award from the national Society of Professional Journalists, once for the Best Documentary in the U.S., and twice for the Best Investigative Reporting.

Reach Jeff at jeff@evanstonnow.com or by calling 513-319-2557.