Resume

CONTACT

WORK EXPERIENCE

Data Editor December 2010-present
The Star-Ledger, Newark, N.J.
235,000 daily circulation
Oversee a team of reporters and researchers charged with developing data-driven enterprise stories using computer-assisted reporting techniques. Focused on presenting data online for readers and building accessible and engaging visualizations with open source tools.


News editor February 2009-December 2010
New Jersey Local News Service, Somerville, N.J.
235,000 daily circulation
Directed a team of seven reporters covering municipal news across two counties for The Star-Ledger. My reporters wrote dozens of front page pieces and broke stories about $30 million wasted on a sewage plant and the questionable practices of a multimillion-dollar, for-profit, second-hand clothing chain. With this Advance Publications company at its inception, I helped interview dozens of candidates for 17 reporter openings.

City editor December 2007-February 2009
Herald News, West Paterson, N.J.
30,000 daily circulation
Led 13 reporters and three editors to cover three cities and their surrounding suburbs for this 30,000-circulation daily. During my tenure, the paper was honored as the best small daily in the state. Led workshops on investigative techniques. Coached reporters to produce stories about imprisoned firefighters forging documents for work-release programs, sanitation workers destroying a city truck in a hit-and-run accident and contractors who duped homeowners into unneeded mortgages.

Computer-assisted reporter June 2006 - December 2007
Herald News

  • Responsible for the newspaper’s databases, mapping and investigations. One of my stories exposed a quiet deal between the mayor and a developer that cost the nearly-bankrupt city of Paterson $9 million. Another piece examined the most dangerous intersections for pedestrians in the county.
  • Led newsroom training courses in CAR, investigative techniques and freedom of information laws.
  • Conceived, designed and maintained the newspaper’s intranet site, “Page One”, a repository for training, beat memos and best practices.

Municipal reporter July 2004 - May 2006
Herald News
Covering the troubled city of Paterson, I consistently broke stories of import to our readers, from city lawyers sexually harassing secretaries at public meetings to parents worried about escalating gun violence. My stories here won state and regional awards.

Sports stringer March 2002 - August 2002
Associated Press Kansas City, Mo.
As a stringer for the wire service, I reported on Kansas City’s Major League Soccer team, the Wizards. Filing fast match reports and longer post-game analyses forced me to become quick, concise and accurate. Unfortunately, I had to leave this job when I moved from the Midwest to New York City.

Reporter January 2000 - December 2000
Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, Kan.
20,000 daily circulation
Covered the police and fire departments as a night cops reporter at this 20,000-circulation daily that pioneered the multimedia convergence newsroom.

Intern August 1999 - December 1999
Spokane Spokesman-Review, Vail Daily, Leadville Chronicle Washington, DC
As an intern, I reported on all three branches of the federal government, relating events in the Capitol to readers in Washington state and Colorado.

Police reporter and copy editor January 1998 - May 1999
Columbia Missourian Columbia, Mo.
While in college, I worked as a police and general assignment reporter and copy editor at this 5,500-circulation, commercial community daily operated by the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism.

HONORS

RELATED EXPERIENCE

EDUCATION
Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism Master of Science, 2004
University of Missouri-Columbia Bachelor of Journalism and Bachelor of Arts, in English, 1999