EXPERIENCE (View my profile on LinkedIn.)
FREELANCE VISUAL PRODUCER (present)
- Self-employed illustrator creating graphics and comics.
- Shot and edited video stories featured online at Baltimore Sun and Baltimore City Paper in 2014.
- Co-produced consumer spy technology story “I spy, you spy” for Al Jazeera America, which was nominated by ONA for an Online Journalism Award in 2014.
ADJUNCT LECTURER | PHILIP MERRILL COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND (2015 – 2019)
- Taught multimedia reporting and social media skills to undergraduate journalism students with an emphasis on photo, audio, and video.
- Created lectures, tutorials, and guides for: photo essays, radio news stories, short podcasts, audio postcards, portrait videos, event videos, photo posts for Facebook/Instagram, videos for Instagram, editing in Adobe Audition, editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, and reporting for multimedia.
- Trained professionals in multimedia skills as part of the school’s Graduate Certificate Programs.
SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR/DIGITAL JOURNALIST | THE BALTIMORE SUN (2012-2014)
- Co-facilitated the creation of The Sun’s immersive multimedia storytelling project that looked at the one year anniversary of the closing of Sparrows Point steel mill.
- Conceived and launched The Sun’s multimedia blog The Darkroom in 2012, which received over 28 million page views in its debut year.
- Curated and edited daily content from multimedia staff for The Darkroom blog.
- Filmed and produced in-depth videos for Hidden Maryland Series, Darkroom blog, and Sparrows Point project.
- Developed social media strategies for engagement over social networking sites including Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram.
- Promoted content on Sun social media accounts, geared towards increasing social reach.
- Experienced with Omniture, Chartbeat, and Google Analytics.
- Created infographics and illustrations for audience engagement on range of topics including gun permits, death penalty, Hidden Maryland series and Valentine’s Day online cards.
- Produced photo galleries for breaking news.
REPORTER/PRODUCER | DEPORTATION NATION PROJECT (JUNE 2010-OCT 2011)
- Reported on the ICE’s Secure Communities program for an investigative immigration project funded through the Soros Criminal Justice Fund and featured on PBS’ Need to Know and The Nation.
- Produced and developed independent site that included articles, videos, and infographics, including a Secure Communities guide that was used in law clinics.
CONTRACT GRAPHIC DESIGNER/PHOTO EDITOR | COLORLINES.COM (MAY ‘11-OCT ‘11)
- Created infographics and illustrations for online site on topics including the 40th anniversary of the Drug War, child obesity, and economic inequality.
PART-TIME VIDEOGRAPHER | WALL STREET JOURNAL (2009 – 2011)
- Edited and produced videos for WSJ Digital Network, Dow Jones, and Marketwatch on political and economic news in Washington, D.C. office.
• Assisted with technical aspects of live and taped broadcast shoots including lighting and audio engineering.
• Trained reporters on shooting video, writing scripts, and on-camera stand-ups.
POST-GRADUATE FELLOW | INVESTIGATIVE REPORTING WORKSHOP (SEPT 2008 – MARCH 2010)
- Researched detention problems for national immigration project that was later adopted by Frontline’s “Lost in Detention” documentary.
- Wrote and submitted dozens of FOIA requests regarding immigration detention facility expansion, population numbers and removal records for all detainees from 2001-2008.
NEWS21 FELLOW | CARNEGIE AND KNIGHT FOUNDATION (SUMMER ‘08)
- Reported and produced multimedia content on voter registration and Proposition 200 in Arizona that was published by The New Republic.
PRODUCER | THE BUSINESS OF DETENTION PROJECT (FALL 2007 – SPRING 2008)
- Produced investigative project on Corrections Corporation of America’s profitable immigration detention business that was featured on MotherJones.com.
- Awarded the Melvin Mencher Award for Superior Reporting and the James L. Wechsler Award for National Reporting for the project, and nominated for a Webby and SXSW Interactive Award.
- Longform article re-edited and published in the anthology “Beyond Walls and Cages.”
INTERN, INTERACTIVE | DEPARTMENT OF THIRTEEN/WNET (SPRING ‘08)
- Wrote content and updated basic HTML on Reel13, Rolling, and American Masters’ Zora Neale Hurston and Marvin Gaye sites.
- Researched copyright licenses of photos for online use and transcribed video.
WRITER, TELCOM INVESTIGATION DESK | CENTER FOR PUBLIC INTEGRITY (SPRING ‘07 – SUMMER ‘07)
- Reported on digital copyright legislation in the 109th Congress regarding Sirius-XM merger, lobbying the Copyright Office, and broadband deployment.
- Wrote 2,500 word Digital Copyright wiki-article for SourceWatch’s Congresspedia.
- Analyzed data from CPI’s FCC ex parte database.
TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT | UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL (2005 – 2006)
- Reported on telecom legislation in the 108th and 109th Congress as well as on privacy, social networking, blogsphere, broadband deployment, mobile industry, and science.
- Copyedited content and generated story ideas.
OTHER FREELANCE WORK
• Online Media Consultant (2008 – 2010): Talked with media and non-profit groups on multimedia production.
• Centro de Investigacion e Informacion Periodistica (CIPER) (2009): Site Design Consultant for the site redesign of this investigative center based in Chile.
• The New Republic (2008): Created infographics including Biden Gaffe-O-Meter and President Barack Obama’s policy team.
• Forbes.com Video Network (Fall 2009): Freelance videographer for Washington D.C. office.
EDUCATION
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM
COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY
MS New Media Journalism (2008)
Honors: Toni Stabile Center for Investigative Journalism Fellow, Melvin Mencher Award for Superior Reporting and James L. Wechsler Award for National Reporting.
SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS
AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, WASHINGTON DC
BA Journalism with minors in Political Communications (2005)
Honors: Dean’s List, National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Golden Key International Honor Society and Alpha Lambda Delta.
