CORE COMPETENCIES:
Motivated and passionate multimedia professional offering 20 years of hands-on experience in writing, editing, reporting and management in weekly, daily and niche/alternative newspapers and websites. Demonstrated ability to create high-level, award-winning news and feature stories and shepherd them through every phase of production.
Author of many pieces that increased web traffic considerably and gained strong social media traction with thousands of shares and comments. A decade-plus experience in managing staff and leading teams of contributors to create equally strong work. Many years experience leading and working on inter-departmental, company-wide projects.
SKILLS:
A&E reporting, arts criticism, blogging, editorial writing, breaking news, aggregating, copy editing, freelance management, staff management, fielding unsolicited pitches, enterprise reporting, feature writing, trend stories, investigative reporting, inter-departmental coordination/collaboration, page design, photography, police/crime coverage, social media, brand representation, networking, video
TECHNICAL SKILLS:
Quark, InDesign, PhotoShop, Cold Fusion, WordPress, Word Office Suite, Fetch, Cincopa, Google Drive, Skype, Zoom, Excel, G Suite, Mac- and PC-proficient; some experience with CSS/XML
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Washington Post
Multiplatform Editor
Emerging News Products Curation & Platforms
June, 2022-present
• Optimize headlines and photos for Washington Post app and mobile web
• Test headlines for washingtonpost.com homepage
• Curate video content for washingtonpost.com homepage
• Curate article content for washingtonpost.com homepage
• Send Washington Post alerts via brand app
• Send Washington Post alerts via Apple News
• Curate content for the "Don't Miss" and "Habit Bar" sections of washingtonpost.com homepage
• Craft language for graphics to accompany Washington Post articles
• Create collections of stories around timely themes for washingtonpost.com
Washington Blade
Features Editor
Washington, DC
May, 2011-July 2020
• Presented coverage options, assignments for features/A&E department at weekly budget meeting
• Maintained database of ideas for upcoming issues up to a year in advance
• Assigned/coordinated content for features department
• Crafted many splashy, provocative celebrity Q&As
• Wrote timely, thought-provoking trend pieces on how LGBT people live, work, think, marry, raise families, their hobbies, passions, politics, entertainment choices and more
• wrote hundreds of personality profiles over many years — ordinary people doing extraordinary things
• Seasoned arts critic able to write and edit knowledgeably about many disciplines including music (classical and popular), TV, movies, streamed content, theater, social media, performance art, visual art and more.
• Managed up to three staff members/interns
•Coordinated with production, photography and promotions staff
• Ensured all elements for weekly production cycle were shipped by deadline
• Edited page proofs
• Loaded edited content to publication website
• Coordinated many annual “special” projects (e.g. Best of Gay D.C. Awards, spring arts issue, fall arts issue, Pride edition, etc.)
• Hired/fired staff, freelancers and interns
• Compiled weekly bulletin of LGBT health news
• Ran summer intern program 2010-2020
• Represented company at many regional and national events (e.g. Capital Pride, Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, Human Rights Campaign events, LGBTQ Victory Fund, et. al.)
• Aided news department as needed
• Worked on a team that planned various events and special editions throughout 2019 related to the paper’s 50th anniversary.
Features and Multimedia Editor
Washington Blade
Aug. 2010-May 2011
• In addition to above-stated features duty, for approximately one year as the company was rebooting under new ownership, I also loaded all editorial web content and managed the company’s social media presence. As the company grew, this was eventually made its own full-time position and I devoted my attention to features solely.
News Editor
Washington Blade
Oct. 2006-Aug. 2008
• Managed news staff of three full-time reporters
• Recruited, hired and fired staff
• Wrote regular news, features and op-eds
• Compiled weekly roundups of aggregated copy of various types: police, legislative, judicial, medical, religious, etc.
• Started weekly police log, a coordinated effort between the Blade and the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit of the Metropolitan Police Department
• Subbed various beats while reporters worked on special projects or were on vacation
• Blogged for washingtonblade.com, various topics
• Represented company at many regional events
• Coordinated with sister papers in New York, Atlanta, Fort Lauderdale and Houston
Staff Writer
Gateway Newspapers/Trib Total Media
Monroeville, PA
June 2003-Oct. 2006
• General assignment news reporter for various municipalities in Pittsburgh suburbs.
• Coverage areas included (but not limited to): cops/court, breaking news, town council, school board, planning/zoning, trend stories and features
Staff Writer
The Journal
Martinsburg, WV
May 2000-Dec. 2002
• Reporter/assistant features editor for the paper’s “Living Section.” Coverage areas included (but not limited to): arts/entertainment, health, home/garden, food, parenting/relationships, etc.
• Wrote features; trend pieces; artist profiles; movie, music and theater reviews; etc. Also designed pages, worked as copy editor, edited page proofs, etc.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of science degree, 1998
Shepherd University
Major: mass communications
AWARDS
Recipient of about 25 national and regional journalism awards. Specifics here.
RECENT PUBLISHED WORK INCLUDES:
Former Avalon singer on coming out, getting ousted and where he is today (10-20-20)
Gay identity elusive for Little Richard and Roy of Siegfried & Roy (5-21-20)
D.C.-area LGBT residents share COVID-19 experiences (5-7-20)
Gun scare in Dupont Circle halts 2019 Pride parade (6-8-19)
WSJ op-ed on gender-inclusive language insensitive, out of touch (8-2-19)
Trans women face many hurdles in quest to compete fairly (8-5-19)
Pride, activist groups, the gay press and more take form in wake of Stonewall riots (6-26-19)
Letting it all hang out at Pride — did it help us in the long run? (6-7-19)
‘Call Me By Your Name’ sequel ‘Find Me’ evocative but lacks original’s power (10-24-19)
‘Boys Don’t Cry’ at 20: rethinking trans actors (10-4-19)
AREAS OF INTEREST:
Transgender rights, the intersection of LGBT and religious issues, climate change, national politics, polling data, database management, storage and retrieval systems, Black Lives Matter, data backup, demographics, generation gaps, vintage and contemporary pop culture
MEMBERSHIPS:
National Lesbian & Gay Journalist Association, Society of Professional Journalists
MORE INFORMATION
References, recommendations, work samples and more are here.