Credit: Stanislav Callas
The not-for-profit Pine Plains Local Journalism Project, Inc. has hired Daisy Sindelar as managing editor of the New Pine Plains Herald. Sindelar has close family ties to Pine Plains, having grown up visiting her grandmother, Christine Crouch, at her house on South Main Street. She returns now after a distinguished career as an American journalist in Europe.
“I’m delighted to be back in the town where my grandmother lived and where my mother and her sisters grew up,” Sindelar said. “Pine Plains is very dear to me, and I’m honored to help the Herald deliver news and information the community needs.”
Sindelar has spent more than 30 years as a journalist. For the past 21 years, she worked at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), one of the largest global news organizations working on the ground in repressive reporting environments including Russia, Iran and Afghanistan.
Most recently, Sindelar served as RFE/RL’s editor in chief and vice president. She also helped launch RFE/RL’s first Russian-language television network, which remains one of the very few independent sources of news about the war in Ukraine still available inside Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
A graduate of Bryn Mawr College with a degree in Russian studies, Sindelar got her start in journalism as a correspondent in Moscow before moving to RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague. She has reported from Ukraine, the Balkans, Poland, Mongolia and Kyrgyzstan.
“I’ve seen firsthand the power of local journalism in parts of the world where free speech and the right to information are under threat,” said Sindelar. “I’m glad to now be part of the fight to revive local news here in the United States. Journalism is an essential part of any community.”
The Herald was born in early 2022 with the goal of providing Pine Plains and surrounding towns with a reliable local source of news and events listings, something that had been missing for more than a decade. With a team of volunteers, the online publication launched in September.
“We’re thrilled to have a journalist of Daisy’s caliber lead the Herald, especially at the outset, when she can help us establish a high level of practices and standards,” said Hank Hersch, the president of the non-profit’s board, who spent nearly four decades as a writer and editor at Sports Illustrated and moved to Pine Plains last year.
“Not only does she have incredible editorial and management skills, but she also has a deep love for Pine Plains, and will always be guided by that in her decisions about our coverage.”