Newsy.com Taps Maples, Flink

Former St. Louis Dispatch editor, KMBC weekend anchor join news site

By John Eggerton -- Broadcasting & Cable, 11/4/2009 9:06:23 AM

News Web site Newsy.com has hired Pam Maples, the former editor of St. Louis Post-Dispatch, as VP of editorial for the site.

In addition, Jim Flink, weekend news anchor and reporter for KMBC-TV, will be an editorial advisor while remaining with the station.

The site uses Missouri School of Journalism students to compare and contrast news stories and source for 2-3 minute videos.

The site was started in Silicon Valley for a former journalism student there, Jim Spencer, who moved the operations to Columbia, Mo., with economic development help from the city and tax credits from the state.

Since launching an iPhone app in late September, it has become the fifth-most popular free news app in the store, according to a Newsy.com spokesperson.