Glenn Townes was named Managing Editor at NJ Urban News (www.njurbannews.com) earlier this month. “We are delighted to have Glenn manage the editorial content of our website,” said Penda Howell, publisher of the popular digital platform based in Newark, NJ.
Townes is from Edison, NJ. He has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He is a featured writer in two best-selling anthologies, including Black Pain, It Just Looks Like We’re Not Hurting, by Terrie Williams and The African American Guide to Writing and Publishing Nonfiction, by Jewell Parker Rhodes. He worked as a newspaper reporter in Kansas City, Mo., from 1986 to 1999, shortly after graduating from the University of Iowa School of Journalism. Townes was a business writer for Black Enterprise (BE) magazine in New York for 18 years. His work has appeared in dozens of publications, including ESSENCE magazine, the New York Daily News, the Miami Herald, Real Health and HISPANIC magazines, and the Kansas City Star.
In 2017, he was awarded a fellowship– the Frank Allen Field Award for Reporting by the Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources (IJNR). He joined NJ Urban News in 2019 as a senior writer. Townes is a 1986 graduate of the University of Iowa and was a Professional-in-Residence twice at the prestigious Big 10 university in 2007 and 2016. He was nominated to the Iowa School of Journalism Hall of Fame in 2020. “I look forward to overseeing the editorial direction of NJ Urban News and making it a valuable and reliable source of information for not only New Jerseyans but everyone,” he said.