About Peter
Peter B. King is an online editor, writer and podcast producer/host. He worked in the Arts & Entertainment/Features department of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh’s largest Web site and daily newspaper, until retiring to go freelance at the end of May, 2009.
His responsibilities at the PG included editing stories for accuracy, clarity and punch. He also published stories to the paper’s Web site using HTML, Photoshop and Dreamweaver, often re-designing print versions to maximize their impact on the Web.
Peter produced podcasts as well. He created, engineered and hosted the weekly music podcast “Believe Your Ears” — a niche that very few newspaper Web sites have explored. “Believe Your Ears” is still thriving in the hands of staffers he trained to carry on his work.
A performing and recording guitarist, singer and songwriter with a master’s degree in music, Peter writes jazz, classical and pop music articles that draw on his expertise. He also pens book reviews, first-person essays and travel pieces.
A native of Philadelphia, Peter graduated summa cum laude with a degree in social work from Temple University, where he initiated a cross-cultural project with Hmong immigrants.
He broke into newspapers as a general assignment staff reporter at the Times Herald in Norristown, a Philadelphia suburb. A six-part series he wrote on Norristown soldiers killed in Vietnam was honored by Norristown Borough Council.
Three years later, Peter moved to Pittsburgh to work as
a staff features writer and pop music critic at The
Pittsburgh Press. There, he interviewed pop music’s
biggest stars, from David Bowie to Paul Simon to Linda
Ronstadt.
The Press closed in 1992. Peter returned to school full-time, studying jazz and Brazilian guitar at Duquesne University, where he earned his master’s degree in music. He also worked as a free-lance jazz critic, interviewing master musicians such as Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson and Roy Haynes.
The Post-Gazette hired Peter full-time in 1994 as a features/A&E copy editor and paginator, where he gained experience with Quark Xpress, Adobe InDesign and InCopy. He kept writing — adding classical music to his list of subjects. For several years he was the assigning editor (and often the writer) for a popular first-person essay column called Life Support, which ran four times a week.
Peter’s role at the paper gradually evolved into “new media” work — a move accelerated when he was selected to participate in a weeklong Knight New Media fellowship at UC Berkeley in 2007. The following year, he took charge of most of the Post-Gazette's weekly podcasts.
In his free time, Peter pursues his music. His current CD is called “The Road to Ubatuba.” A new CD, “Dancing on a Long Leash,” will be released on November 6, 2009. You can find out more about that side of Peter’s creativity at www.PeterKingMusic.com.
The Press closed in 1992. Peter returned to school full-time, studying jazz and Brazilian guitar at Duquesne University, where he earned his master’s degree in music. He also worked as a free-lance jazz critic, interviewing master musicians such as Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson and Roy Haynes.
The Post-Gazette hired Peter full-time in 1994 as a features/A&E copy editor and paginator, where he gained experience with Quark Xpress, Adobe InDesign and InCopy. He kept writing — adding classical music to his list of subjects. For several years he was the assigning editor (and often the writer) for a popular first-person essay column called Life Support, which ran four times a week.
Peter’s role at the paper gradually evolved into “new media” work — a move accelerated when he was selected to participate in a weeklong Knight New Media fellowship at UC Berkeley in 2007. The following year, he took charge of most of the Post-Gazette's weekly podcasts.
In his free time, Peter pursues his music. His current CD is called “The Road to Ubatuba.” A new CD, “Dancing on a Long Leash,” will be released on November 6, 2009. You can find out more about that side of Peter’s creativity at www.PeterKingMusic.com.