Free Times and The Post and Courier are thrilled to announce a handful of key additions to the Columbia staff.
Our team in Columbia now includes 13 full-time journalists plus our advertising and operations staffs, all of whom live and work right here in the Columbia region.
Each of these hires further position our organization to continue producing top-notch local journalism and providing quality services to our readers, advertising partners and the community at large.
Please join us in congratulating the following:
• As previously announced, David Clarey has been named the editor of Free Times. David has served as Free Times’ food writer for nearly two years and has done a terrific job.
David will shift to the editor role and cover arts and entertainment. It’s evident from our conversations with David that he has some great ideas for Free Times’ content and its place in the market — we look forward to seeing his ideas come to fruition.
With this move, Free Times now seeks a full-time food writer to succeed David.
• Lindsay Teague Conine has joined Free Times’ as our new events and marketing manager.
Lindsay is a Columbia area native and is a graduate of Clemson University. Her previous experience includes corporate sales and event management for hotel groups both in Columbia and in Denver as well as operations, nonprofit fundraising, and statewide political campaigns.
In her new role, Lindsay will serve as the lead organizer for Free Times’ series of events, most notably the Columbia Food and Wine Festival, the Best of Columbia party and the upcoming A Free Times Halloween party on Oct. 29.
• Casey Darnell has joined our news staff and is covering Lexington County news for Post and Courier Columbia.
The graduate of Syracuse University (working as editor for the school paper) interned for Yahoo! News and the Philadelphia Business Journal prior to joining our team.
Casey’s addition to the team is crucial in our mission to more extensively cover all the happenings in the booming Lexington County.
• Nick Reynolds will punch his Southern card after stints in Upstate New York and the Rockies. He takes over the Statehouse/politics beat from Jamie Lovegrove on Oct. 11.
Nick has covered Wyoming politics since 2018 for the Casper Star-Tribune and WyoFile.
Prior to that, he was a city hall reporter for The Ithaca Journal and managing editor of The Ithaca Times, an alternative weekly publication.
• Angie Bledsoe has returned to Free Times as an advertising account executive, a role she previously held for several years leading up to 2018.
She brings more than eight years of experience in media and advertising
We are thrilled to have Angie back on the team because she is so passionate about our mission.
