Email shawn.hogendorf@patch.com
Phone 651-261-2764 Hometown Stillwater, MN Birthday March 19, 1978 Bio: Shawn has been a community journalist in Scott County since graduating from the University of Minnesota's school of journalism in 2006. He has spent the last five years as a staff photographer and reporter with the Prior Lake American and Savage Pacer newspapers covering police, fire, courts and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community, while penning human interest and entertainment stories. In his five-year career, Shawn has received several awards from the Minnesota Newspaper Association ranging from best investigative news series to best sports feature story. He was also named Southwest Newspaper's Journalist of the Year in 2009. Shawn lives to spend time with his wife, son, Golden Retriever and American Bulldog. He loves camping, hiking, heading out to music festivals, tossing a round of Frisbee golf and hacking around the links with his pals. He also sees a lot of boating and fishing in his near future. My Beliefs At Patch, we promise always to report the facts as objectively as possible and otherwise adhere to the principles of good journalism. However, we also acknowledge that true impartiality is impossible because human beings have beliefs. So in the spirit of simple honesty, our policy is to encourage our editors to reveal their beliefs to the extent they feel comfortable. This disclosure is not a license for you to inject your beliefs into stories or to dictate coverage according to them. In fact, the intent is the opposite: we hope that the knowledge that your beliefs are on the record will cause you to be ever mindful to write, report and edit in a fair, balanced way. And if you ever see evidence that we failed in this mission, please let us know. Politics  I am not a registered member of any party, but I do love talking politics (so much so that I minored in political science at the University of Minnesota). One thing journalism has taught me over the years is that there are strong arguments on both sides of the political aisle, so I find my personal beliefs to be somewhere in the middle on almost every issue. If I had to sum up my political beliefs in four words, I would quote one of my favorite songs by Michael Franti: "Nobody right. Nobody wrong."  Religion I was raised Lutheran, but if you look me up on Facebook you will see that I believe God is in the details. Local Hot-Button Issues I have only been here  short while, so let me think on this one ... Oh, right the Stillwater Lift Bridge. Taxes, spending habits and city and school budgets also rise to the top of the list.