SUMMARY
Award-winning and experienced multimedia reporter looking to share stories with impact. Good teammate and team leader. Developed stories that have state and national interest. Received assignments and covered stories with state and national significance for media groups including the Associated Press, AOL and the Tampa Bay Times. Enjoys finding and disseminating stories that engage the community and initiate change.
SPECIALIZED SKILLS
Working knowledge of various web publishing platforms, SEO optimization, Social media marketing, iMovie, Excel, Word, FrontPage, PowerPoint, PhotoShop, Audacity, Windows and Apple OS, Cascading Style Sheet and HTML Web design
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
National Content Editor, Cox Media Group Feb. 2015
Cover breaking news, trending and viral stories. Use analytics and other digital tools for quick and nimble coverage adjustments.
Freelance Writer, Clearwater, FL Jan. 2014
Regularly received assignments, developed news and features for various publications including The Associated Press, Tampa Bay Times, 83 Degrees Media, Creative Loafing, Visit Clearwater, and Visit Florida. Also contributed reporting to the The Miami New Times and The Sun of London.
- The Associated Press:Received assignments and covered stories of state and national significance.
- Tampa Bay Times: Developed news and features and received assignments for stories, many of which went viral.
- 83 Degrees Media: Report feature stories highlighting diversity and the rebounding Tampa Bay area economy.
- Visit Clearwater: Wrote blogs and posted photographs covering Clearwater and Clearwater Beach for tourism-based website.
- Visit Florida: Developed feature stories for state of Florida tourism website.
AOL/Clearwater Patch, Clearwater, FL 2010 – 2013 Local Editor
Edited copy, produced video, took photographs, developed feature stories, covered breaking news and local government:
- Covered stories that initiated change and engaged residents in the community.
- Worked as part of a team partnering with local television news to broadcast a debate of candidates running in the 2012 Pinellas County Sheriff’s election.
- Was part of a team of reporters writing multiple daily stories covering the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.
- Developed local and regional features keeping the community up to speed daily.
- Produced multimedia stories picked up for publication to a national audience on Huffington Post and AOL.
- Broke several viral stories including a tiger with a six pound hairball, a business owner at odds with the Church of Scientology, a woman whose grandmother was stored in a storage locker more than a decade and the discovery of a World War I memorial during a historic building’s renovation.
- Employed grassroots marketing and social media strategies to develop brand awareness.
- Established brand as a trusted, credible news source.
- Site consistently ranked top in traffic throughout southeast region.
- Led a team of freelance writers editing and assigning stories.
St. Petersburg Times, St. Petersburg ,FL 2007 – 2010 Staff Writer
Covered features, breaking news, local and state government and politics.
- Developed in-depth feature stories for Metro and regional front pages.
- Produced multimedia audio and slideshow packages.
- Administrator for one of the newspaper’s first community blogs.
- One of the first reporters to use Twitter to report a story
Freelance Writer, Associated Press, St. Petersburg Times, Tampa Bay Newspapers 2006 – 2007
- The Associated Press: Covered state and national politics and court cases in Tampa Bay area.
- St. Petersburg Times: Wrote stories for Brandon, Clearwater and Largo regional editions and weekly “Top of the Class” feature.
- Tampa Bay Newspapers: Followed local government and breaking news for network of weekly community newspapers.
Media Liaison – Sami Al Arian terrorist trial, Tampa, FL 2005 Coordinated the daily release of evidence to national and Tampa Bay area media outlets.
Postcardmania, Clearwater, FL 2005 Proofreader
Developed copy and ideas for direct-mail marketing campaigns for companies nationwide.
Independent Florida Alligator, Gainesville, FL 2003 – 2004 Beat reporter
Covered student, city and county government, university administration, local elections and the 2004 presidential election for The Independent Florida Alligator (www.alligator.org), the country’s largest circulating college newspaper.
McGill Plumbing, Largo, FL 2000 – 2006 Sales and Service Specialist
Learned plumbing trade working in the field and selling fixtures through sales counter at family-operated plumbing and water treatment company.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT EXPERIENCE
Central Pinellas Puppy Raisers, Clearwater, FL 2015 Assistant Area Coordinator
Organize outings and exposures for group of volunteers with Southeastern Guide Dogs puppies-in-training. Disseminate organization news and information. Review potential puppy raiser applicants.
The Studio Review, St. Petersburg, FL 2010 Managing Editor
Led a team in the creation of a Panorama-style news, features and arts broadsheet published in accord with the Studio@620 art gallery’s five-year anniversary. Edited and solicited content. Worked to create publishing agreement with local alternative weekly Creative Loafing.
The Sequitur.com 2005 – 2008 Contributing Editor
Aggregated stories from the web as part of daily report. Edited content for online news magazine. Helped cover and guide coverage of Bonnaroo, a week-long annual music festival in Manchester, Tenn.
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Science in Journalism, University of Florida
Gainesville, FL
Associate in Arts, St. Petersburg College
Clearwater, FL
AFFILIATIONS
President’s Volunteer Service, Lifetime Achievement Award – 2015
First Place – Tampa Bay Association of Black Journalists Griot Drum Awards, Features, Print, 2014
Certificate of Completion – Poynter News University USFSP: Digital Journalism and Design: Combined Assessment, 2014
Volunteer – Puppy Raiser – Southeastern Guide Dogs, 2014
Volunteer – Pinellas County Habitat for Humanity, 2008, 2011
Public records auditor – Florida Society of News Editors, 2008
Member – University of Florida Alumni Association
Member – Alligator Alumni Association
Member – University of Florida Soils and Agronomy Club, 2002
Member – Lucent Technologies Explorer Program, 2001
Participant – March of the Living, 2000
