Hey there, CityBeat readers. Kane Mitten here. It’s an honor to join the team of a publication that I’ve been reading for as long as I can remember. As a lifelong resident of the Queen City, I’m so excited to showcase Cincinnati’s arts & culture scene and shine a light on underrepresented communities in our local area.
A bit about me: I grew up here, went to Northern Kentucky University for a double major in journalism and communication, then worked at Local 12 WKRC and Cincinnati Magazine. I usually spend my free time going to the movies, playing intramural sports or listening to records at home with my cat. I’m also a massive Cincinnati sports fan, and will continue to let the Reds and Bengals keep playing with my emotions for as long as I live.
In my time as a journalist, I’ve chronicled the city’s growing local hip-hop scene, investigated the sudden closure of a downtown restaurant that tried to get away with not paying their workers, ate and reviewed more amazing food than I can remember, created an expansive number of “Best Of” lists, and profiled fascinating local figures—like a local man who became TikTok viral for maintaining an eel pit in his basement, or a 60-year-old Loveland resident who is the oldest in the world to complete open water swimming’s Grand Slam.
In 2024, I won an award for Best Arts Reporting from the Ohio chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists for helming a jam-packed issue on Cincinnati’s burgeoning film industry and how it’s creating jobs all over the area.
After leaving my role at Cincinnati Magazine, I took some time away from the journalism world to reorient myself and decide what I wanted to get out of writing. During that time, I joined the service industry for a few years—my friends and I often joke about how I liked writing about food and drink so much that I decided to participate in the industry myself. (If you’ve been to Alice in the last two years, for example, there’s a good chance I served you a drink.)
Now, with a fresh perspective, I’m ready to continue telling the stories of the city I love. What better place to do that than CityBeat? If you’re reading this and you’re doing something cool in Cincinnati, shoot me an email at kmitten@citybeat.com. I can’t wait to hear from you all.