I’ve had lots of jobs, from temping at an internet company (where I once talked to a sweatpant-clad Andie MacDowell) to teaching middle school kids how to rappel. Today, I’m a freelance journalist, editor and photographer available for a wide range of communications needs, particularly writing on a variety of technical and human-interest topics. My specialties are in lifestyle, news feature and enterprise reporting, though I especially love compelling people-based reporting on social and business issues, particularly labor and the workplace.
Professional Experience
Project manager, WNC Local Information Cooperative, a networked journalism project of the Asheville Citizen-Times (2009-present)
Identify, recruit and manage top regional news and information web sites in a networked journalism project launched by the Asheville Citizen-Times, which is one of five newspapers across the nation working to form such networks through the support of J-Lab, The Institute for Interactive Journalism. The project’s goals include developing innovative ways to share content among a diverse group of journalists, bloggers and social media experts, using a variety of online media formats.
Freelance home editor, WNC magazine (2009-present)
Scout, report and write profiles of interesting homes and homeowners from across western North Carolina, working in conjunction with WNC magazine’s editorial staff.
Freelance reporter, editor and photographer (2006-present)
Clients include a variety of academic, nonprofit, online and print publications and organizations, including NC State University Alumni Association, the NC State University’s College of Natural Resources, BlueCross BlueShield of NC Foundation, the Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce, Community Action Opportunities, and magazines such as Blue Mountain Living, WNC magazine, Our State, Luxury Living and G, The Magazine of Greenville (SC).
Reporting includes stories on Western North Carolina travel and history, real estate trends, research in alternative energies and the environment, disaster preparation and personality profiles.
Photographs have appeared in Blue Mountain Living, on exploreasheville.com, in publications by Community Action Opportunities and on the Website for the North Carolina news radio show, The State of Things.
Night editor, Asheville Citizen-Times (2006)
Directed Sunday news coverage, managed crime reporter and photographer, edited stores, copyedited page layouts and content.
Staff writer, Asheville Citizen-Times (September 2003 – December 2006)
Award-winning reporting included spot, news feature, investigative and trend stories on a range of topics and community news. Specific beats and responsibilities included:
- Health and fitness reporter, focusing on child health and local health care industry news and features: 2006.
- Investigative and enterprise reporter: 2005-2006.
- Business reporter focusing on consumer, workplace and manufacturing news: 2003-2005.
- Chair of “The Learning Newsroom” leadership committee, an initiative with the American Press Institute: 2005-2006.
- Chair, Training Committee. Set up training plan and initiatives for every newsroom professional: 2004-2006.
- Creator and organizer of a monthly newsroom series on writing and reporting skill development: 2004-2005.
- Stories distributed by wire services have appeared in newspapers across the country, including The Miami Herald and The (Raleigh) News & Observer.
Staff writer, Carolina Communicator (2001-2002)
Writer for quarterly alumni publication of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Staff writer, The Daily Tar Heel (2001)
Daily news reporter for the city desk of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s student newspaper.
Project Coordinator, Piedmont Peace Project (1999-2000)
Created and organized an 11-county multicultural coalition for community education on the 2000 census; coordinated all publications and media activities.
Community Organizer and Publication Coordinator, Clean Water Fund of N.C. (1996-1998)
Editor and writer for Clean Currents, the organization’s quarterly publication; organized and led community meetings and research; developed grassroots and statewide education programs; assisted the development of a diverse, research-based organization.
Publication Coordinator, Warren Wilson College (1994)
Wrote, edited, designed and produced college publications.
Co-editor, Campus Outreach (1992-1993)
Edited and designed the national journal of the Campus Outreach Opportunity League, a national organization for community service by colleges and universities; researched news stories, recruited writers, copy edited content and designed publication.
Awards and Fellowships
Walter Spearman Award for Young Journalists, runner-up (2005), The North Carolina Associated Press.
This award recognized the reporting and writing of a story following a group of laid off textile workers at a Levis sewing plant in Burnsville, N.C., one story in a series exploring the economic struggles of Mitchell County, one of the poorest counties in western North Carolina.
Gannett Division II Well Done awards; quarterly competitions among Gannett Co. Inc. newspapers:
- First place, daily enterprise reporting; for a package of stories detailing the closing of a local manufacturer and the subsequent loss of jobs and impact on the local economy. (2003)
- Runner-up, project reporting; for an enterprise series exploring the challenges for workers and educators in a rural, economically challenged county. (2004)
- Runner-up, first amendment, investigative reporting; for investigative stories on then-U.S. Congressman Charles Taylor’s ownership and involvement in the Russian banking system. (2005)
William Francis Clingman Jr. Ethics Award (2002), UNC-Chapel Hill School of Journalism and Mass Communication.
This award is given annually to a graduate student with an expressed interest in media ethics.
Archie Green Occupational Folklife Graduate Fellowship Award (2002), UNC-Chapel Hill Curriculum in Folklore.
This award is given to students interested in occupational folklore and elements of modern work life and the changing economy; award used to support a year-long reporting project on the death of a North Carolina textile mill.
Education
News Reporting and Writing Fellowship for College Graduates (2003), The Poynter Institute for Media Studies.
M.A., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N.C. (2003)
School of Journalism and Mass Communication, news-editorial sequence. Thesis: “When the Thread Unravels: How the Social and Economic Fabric of a Western North Carolina Mill Town Changed When a Textile Company Died.”
B.A., Warren Wilson College, Swannanoa, N.C. (1993)
Major: humanities, concentration in philosophy