Andy Bechtel is an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina's School of Journalism and Mass Communication where he teaches editing and newswriting. He writes a blog about editing and writing at editdesk.blogspot.com.

Bechtel has nearly 12 years of editing experience in newspapers, primarily at The News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. He spent the summer of 2008 working as an editor at the Web site of the Los Angeles Times. His other experience includes work as a copy editor and page designer at the News & Record in Greensboro, N.C.

Bechtel is a member of the executive committee of the American Copy Editors Society, and he is the author of a Poynter NewsU course Beyond the Inverted Pyramid: Creating Alternative Story Forms. He is a frequent contributor to the ACES newsletter, and he has also written reviews and articles for Quill, Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly, and Society for News Design Update.