Francie Swidler joined NBC 5 Chicago in November of 2021 as a morning digital news and social producer. In addition to managing digital content, social media and breaking news for Chicago in the mornings, Francie writes and reports on everything from Chicago’s best bars and burgers, to COVID rules and restrictions, to hyperlocal and suburban Chicago stories.

From 2018-2021, Francie was an Audience Editor at Colorado Public Radio, where she initially served as the news organization’s Social Media Editor. In her tenure at CPR, she led and moderated workshops on journalist social media use and best practices, audience development and trust and reader conversion through newsletters and more.

Francie also produced several large scale pieces, including curating easy-to-read and easy-to-find information about Colorado elections, COVID vaccinations in the Denver area, timelines of major breaking news events like wildfires and more.

Prior to joining CPR, Francie was a digital and social producer for The Denver Post. Starting as an Editorial Assistant in 2012, Francie was on the team that won a Pulitzer Prize for breaking news coverage of the Aurora Theater shooting. She produced dozens of Facebook Live videos, countless Twitter threads and wrote travel, culture and lifestyle stories.

Francie took a step away from journalism briefly in 2017 to work in public relations at Angi Home Services (formerly HomeAdivsor and Angie’s List), but couldn’t stay away long. She returned to the industry after less than a year.