Editorial Advisory Council

Marjorie Arons-Barron spent nearly 30 years in journalism, both print and broadcast, followed by many years as a blogger (marjoriearonsbarron.com) and communications consultant. In 2019, she was inducted into the Mass. Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Arons-Barron is well known from her career as editorial director at WCVB-TV, Channel 5, Boston’s ABC affiliate.  For 20 years, she also produced and often hosted Five on Five, a long-running public affairs discussion program. A three-time Emmy winner and five-time national honoree for broadcast editorializing, she also reported for Channel 2 and the Boston Phoenix, was associate producer of PBS program The Advocates and early on was political editor of the Newton Times.

Bob Brown is co-editor for The Swellesley Report (est. 2005) and Natick Report (est. 2020), the main local news sites in Wellesley and Natick, Mass., along with his wife, Deborah Brown. Bob has been a professional journalist throughout his career, starting at Boston University’s alumni newspaper and magazine, then moving on to the Boston Herald, and technology business publication Network World. His writing has also appeared in publications such as the Boston Globe, Wellesley Weston Magazine, and more. Bob launched The Swellesley Report and Natick Report as side hustles, but went all-in on them in 2023. The sites aim to be timely, useful, and fun, offering “More than you really want to know about…” these two Boston suburbs.

Charles Mansbach was a journalist for 50 years, the last 39 as an editor at the Boston Globe. When he retired at the end of 2016, he had been the Globe’s page one editor for 26 years. In retirement, he has been a volunteer for 826Boston, helping high school students with their college essays and other writing projects. He and his wife have lived in Waban since 1978.

Linda Matchan was a Boston Globe staff writer and editor for more than 30 years; she’s now is acorrespondent for the Globe Magazine and a documentary filmmaker, and freelances for the Washington Post, the Forward, and other publications.  Her investigative work for the Globe included a series on sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, and another examining abuse and neglect of patients by home care workers. Her work has been supported by the Pulitzer Center, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Ford Foundation.

Barbara F. Meltz is a retired journalist who spent 30 years at the Boston Globe, first as the New England editor and then, for 19 years, as the parenting columnist. She is the author of “Put Yourself in Their Shoes, Understanding How Your Children See the World.” After leaving the Globe, she was an adjunct professor of journalism at Lasell College. Barbara also has served 13 years as a member of the board of trustees of the Newton Free Library, including three years as chair.