Objective
Eagerly seeking a position as a copy editor, reporter, or Web blogger at a newspaper, magazine, or Web site at which to improve my craft and establish a promising reputation in professional news journalism.
Work Experience
Editor in Chief
6/2008 - 7/2008
Cal State Northridge Summer Sundial Newspaper |
Printing and Publishing
The job entailed acclimatizing staffers to the news production cycle and providing them with advice based on past reporting experience on how to write stories and find viable sources. It further included developing news story ideas for six 12-page weekly editions, which were copyedited, fact checked and proofread.
Eagerly seeking a position as a copy editor, reporter, or Web blogger at a newspaper, magazine, or Web site at which to improve my craft and establish a promising reputation in professional news journalism.
Work Experience
Editor in Chief
6/2008 - 7/2008
Cal State Northridge Summer Sundial Newspaper |
Printing and Publishing
The job entailed acclimatizing staffers to the news production cycle and providing them with advice based on past reporting experience on how to write stories and find viable sources. It further included developing news story ideas for six 12-page weekly editions, which were copyedited, fact checked and proofread.
Writing headlines and news stories, taking photos, dummying news pages, managing the preflight process and Web site were also entailed.
Coverage focused on the state's first two legal same-sex marriages; student arrests, deaths and accidents; scrutiny of campus budgets, construction projects and student government; local politics, profiles about notable alumni and students, and entertainment news.
A notable accomplishment was attracting substantial traffic to the newspaper's online edition - hits a week topped 10,000 one week - during a semester when campus news was sparing. Attention to the Web site was primarily attracted by coverage focusing on premieres of cult TV shows such as "House" and "Battlestar Galactica," in addition to previews, reviews and features of niche movies such as "Sex and The City" and "The Dark Knight."
What I acquired from this position was a better understanding of how to use InDesign, Photoshop and digital cameras. In addition, I learned to find story ideas off campus that might interest students such as the first same-sex marriage or that involved students' deaths, car accidents and criminal arrests. I further generated news by talking with college government officers about issues relevant to students nobody was talking about anymore and covering stories that were not followed up on in past semesters.
Senior Copy Editor, Copy Editor
1/2008 - 5/2008
Cal State Northridge Daily Sundial Newspaper, SCENE Magazine |
Printing and Publishing
Both jobs entailed reading all news and feature stories to verify use of sound grammar and proper Associated Press style, check factual information and make sure spelling was correct. Also involved was writing appropriate headlines for stories and cutting them for conciseness.
Senior Copy Editor, Copy Editor
1/2008 - 5/2008
Cal State Northridge Daily Sundial Newspaper, SCENE Magazine |
Printing and Publishing
Both jobs entailed reading all news and feature stories to verify use of sound grammar and proper Associated Press style, check factual information and make sure spelling was correct. Also involved was writing appropriate headlines for stories and cutting them for conciseness.
The senior Sundial copyediting position was earned as a result of establishing a reputation as a reporter for writing news stories that flowed well, adhered to the aforementioned guidelines and included thorough research, and also because of experience acquired from making sure stories adhered to these standards in the Spring '07 semester when serving as copyeditor.
The Daily Sundial Editor in Chief at the time said that I was "an amazing copyeditor." Prominently placed in the SCENE magazine, which had minimal space to devote to all the staff's stories, was my well-praised feature article about the legacy of a local comic book shop owner.
Managing Editor
8/2007 - 12/2007
Cal State Northridge Daily Sundial newspaper |
Printing and Publishing
Duties of the job included assisting the editor in chief throughout the production cycle. This was done by developing story ideas, assigning them to reporters, writing stories, coordinating efforts of reporters with those of photographers, checking their progress, dummying pages and supervising the preflight process. Stories were copyedited, fact-checked and proofread thoroughly prior to being uploaded onto InDesign.
Main accomplishments of the job were performing several different duties within the course of a work day, fostering team work among staffers during production, championing continued coverage of the controversial California DREAM Act bill and contributing to the opinion editor's efforts to foster discussion of racial discrimination experienced by students.
The Daily Sundial publisher/adviser at the time said I was an "ever resourceful managing editor." What I learned most from the experience of being managing editor was to communicate effectively with student coworkers, who were busy with other responsibilities outside of the newsroom, to accomplish a common goal. I found that fostering communication between reporters and photographers covering the same stories, coordinating story and photo assignments with open spots in the schedules of staffers, listening to colleagues explain what they required in order to accomplish their tasks and providing them with positive reinforcement once they did dramatically improved productivity throughout the semester.
Staff Reporter
5/2004 - 12/2006
Cal State Northridge Daily Sundial, Glendale College El Vaquero newspapers |
Printing and Publishing
Working as a reporter on the staff of both newspapers involved writing hard news, features, editorials, as well as crafting reviews of movies, plays and video games. Then I worked to copyedit, fact check and proofread other stories, making changes via Quark at The El Vaquero and InDesign at The Daily Sundial.
Most notable of my stories at The El Vaquero were personality profiles of professors, workers and students on campus who I talked with thoroughly until I acquired a good ideas as to how and why they suddenly changed their lives either because of an important time in their upbringing or to pursue a passion.
The El Vaquero publisher/advisor, recognized with three awards how I demonstrated a clear and concise writing style while paying close attention to detail in my news and personality stories. I received a first place award for a hard news story about increasing gas prices, a first place award for a soft news story about Lyndon LaRouche activists bothering students and a second place award for a profile of a rookie police officer starting his career on campus.
Education
Education
Bachelor's Degree,
Newspaper Journalism
Newspaper Journalism
9/2004 - 12/2008
California State Northridge
California State Northridge
Northridge, Calif.
High School Diploma,
9/1997 - 6/2001
Benjamin Franklin High School
9/1997 - 6/2001
Benjamin Franklin High School
Los Angeles, Calif.
Certification
Public Relations,
Communications,
Mass Communications,
2001 - 2004
Glendale College,
Glendale Calif.
Working for these certificates, I acquired the ability to confidently speak to people in a professional, collected manner reflective of my clear and concise writing. I also learned to write news media releases and cut/edit video with Final Cut Pro.
Skills
Proficient with Copyediting Intermediate
Proficient with Adobe InDesign, QuarkXpress | Intermediate
Proficient with Pagination Intermediate
Proficient with Adobe Photoshop Beginner
Proficient with Digital Photography Beginner
Proficient with HTML Coding (from blogging) | Intermediate
Proficient with Final Cut Pro Beginner
Languages
Spanish
Interests & Hobbies
Blogging
HTML design
Creative writing
Cinema
Books/Reading
Jogging
