Gwen Filosa is now digital editor at the Keys Weekly Newspapers, having joined the Keyswide team on Aug. 14.
Digital editor is a new position at the Weekly, created with Filosa in mind. She will manage the Weekly’s social media, host and produce the Weekly’s podcast and report on Keys news, culture and happenings across the island chain.
Filosa moved to Key West in June 2011 for a reporter job at the island’s daily newspaper. She later joined the staff of the McClatchy Company-owned Keynoter, then a subsidiary of the Miami Herald.
In 2016, the Miami Herald hired her to cover Key West and the Lower Keys.
In October 2022, Filosa left the Herald to work for Miami’s NPR member station, WLRN.
But in June 2023, Filosa decided she wanted to work for a locally-owned and operated news organization. She reached out to the Weekly’s publishers, Britt Myers and Jason Koler, and they agreed it was a great match: the newspaper with the largest circulation in the Florida Keys and a veteran journalist dedicated to local news for more than 25 years.
“As our three Weekly publications have expanded across the Keys, we have witnessed an explosion of digital growth across our website, daily e-blast and social media platforms,” said Myers. “The role of digital editor is vital to providing fresh, updated content to the local community throughout the week.
“Our mission at the Keys Weekly has always emphasized a ‘community first’ model,” said Myers. “When we search for local talent, it’s not only important they possess incredible talent in their field, but they also share a philosophy of community involvement and support. For us, Gwen checked every box and then some – and we are honored to have her join the Weekly family.
“And adding Gwen has been of interest to us for some time, as she embodies the local spirit of ‘One Human Family.’ She is not only a highly respected journalist here in the Keys, but Gwen has a proven track record.”
Filosa said she also wanted a change from working remotely for mainland news outlets.
“I’ve worked with some of the best reporters and editors in Florida and I’m grateful,” Filosa said. “But I wanted to be in a newsroom again, working side-by-side with people who actually live in the Keys. I’ve always been a hometown reporter – from tiny New Hampshire towns to the city of New Orleans and, for 12 years now, in Key West.”
Filosa arrived in Key West from New Orleans, where she covered Orleans Parish criminal courts for the Times-Picayune. During a decade at the metro paper, Filosa also kept tabs on state and federal courts, Louisiana prisons and the death penalty system.
She was part of the Times-Picayune’s staff that was awarded both the Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News, and the Public Service medal, for coverage of Hurricane Katrina in 2005. They worked nonstop to report on the region shattered by not only the hurricane, which made landfall at a Category 3, but the levee system failures that left 80% of the city under water.
Before she arrived in New Orleans, Filosa wrote for the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire. She was a regional reporter before taking the police and courts beat. In 2000, she was on the team that covered New Hampshire’s then first-in-the-nation presidential primary.
Filosa graduated from Indiana University with a bachelor’s degree in English literature and also studied at the Ernie Pyle School of Journalism.
In addition to journalism, Filosa has done standup at Comedy Key West since 2017, and has performed at the Key West Theater.
Filosa has become a grateful resident of Key West, where the Fighting Conchs rule – but remains a devout New Orleans Saints fan. Send her news tips, story ideas and hair compliments to gwen@keysweekly.com
