Erica Palan is the kind of editor who works even when she isn’t intending to.
While scrolling on Facebook one day, Erica spotted a post from a Philadelphia woman who wrote about her experience trying to help friends who had been suddenly detained by immigration agents.
That serendipitous event turned into the third-most-viewed piece on Inquirer.com so far this year.
With her feel and instinct for content that our audience wants to read, Erica reached out and asked the woman if we could run the piece. She then undertook the painstaking due diligence to elevate a Facebook post to an op-ed.
She fact-checked. She cut. A lot. She removed every unverified statement and made sure the result read seamlessly.
The op-ed was posted on July 18. It gained almost 500,000 views and had an engagement time of four minutes and nineteen seconds.
It was a success in every way. Erica had worked her magic – again – both as an editor and a social media pro.
As deputy opinion editor, Erica excels at recognizing “the thing” that everyone is talking about – or wants to. She then elevates that “thing” into provocative op-eds. These include big controversies such as the “black mummer” and a series of comments by Marc Lamont Hill that cost him his CNN job and which she, by reaching out to Hill, helped turn into an illuminating commentary by Hill himself.
Erica also gives space to lighter topics that sometimes spark a national conversation. You will recall the viral op-ed on why why adults should abandon backpacks. That one garnered more than 110,000 views.
Said one nominator: “There is probably no one in this newsroom more attuned to our audience than Erica Palan.”
These op-eds are successful not just because they align with the hot take of the day, but because Erica also uses her editing skills to turn a mere topic into a highly readable piece.
To do so requires editing chops but also patience and that other elusive thing — a “bedside manner” – which you need to get the best from people who aren’t necessarily professional writers. Listening to her field phone calls from people pitching ideas, or people who have submitted opinions that need work, is a lesson in both kindness and patience.
Erica has also elevated our Sunday Currents section and turned it into an important platform for discussing and dissecting the relevant issues of the day.
For all these accomplishments, Erica Palan is the Vigoda Award winner for July. Congratulations, Erica!
The Vigoda Award committee Harold Brubaker, Ellen Dunkel, Stephanie Farr, Cynthia Greer, Jason Laughlin, Lou Rabito, Jeremy Roebuck, Roslyn Rudolph, Allison Steele, Julia Terruso, Helen Ubinas, Elizabeth Wellington
The Vigoda Award 