Skills

• adobe indesign
• adobe photoshop
• adobe premiere
• blogging
• copywriting
• digital content
• editing
• editorial writing
• fluent in Arabic (80%)
• lightroom
• MS powerpoint
• MS Word and Excel
• music news writing
• news writing
• package clipping
• project management
• Reader
• social media
• Windows and Mac OS Platforms

Education

University of Cincinnati

09/2008-12/2013 B.A. in journalism

Richmond: The International University of London

2012 Study Abroad

Experience

Grey Media- Fox 19 WXIX

11/2018-present Digital Content Producer/Assignment Desk Editor

Cincinnati, Ohio

·       Writes stories for the web. Result: Stories featured on front page of website.

·       Listens to scanners and prompts newscasts

·       Sorts through press releases and sends photographers to work on stories.

·       Monitors and schedules posts to social media using Social News Desk, Tweetdeck, and Facebook. Result: Received over 8000 likes on a single Facebook post

·       Clips packages and edits photos for the web

·       Uses social media to find stories

·       Pitches story ideas to reporters and editors

Cincy Music

02/2014-present Freelance Journalist

Cincinnati, Ohio

·  Built strong relationships leading to by-name requests from PR agents and artists to review, interview, and write about musicians and concerts.
·  Interviewed Ann Wilson of Heart, Andy Grammer, The Darkness, and Foxy Shazam.
·  Sole Cincinnati journalist to review Foo Fighters concert during “Concrete and Gold” tour stop in Cincinnati.
·  Stories featured on front banner of Cincy Music website.  Results: Gained solid traction on social media and drove high number of visitors to the website with story on the band The Grove.
·  Writes and edits feature stories, shoot photographs, conducts interviews, and review music for blog on a range of musicians.

New Noise Magazine

04/2017- present Freelance Music Journalist

• Write articles and reviews for print and digital music magazine focused on underground artists in indie, punk, and metal genres read worldwide.
• Go-getter style led to writing six stories for one print cycle, more than double the output of other writers.
• Interviewed and wrote expanded feature story on We Came as Romans’ “Cold Like War” album.

Issue Media Group-Soapbox Cincinnati

06/2017-11/2018 Freelance Journalist

Cincinnati, Ohio
• Contributed to a weekly online magazine that illuminates developments in Cincinnati area.
• Successfully pitched “Take a Bite Out of Cincy: 9 Locally Made Snacks” story idea. Result: Story gained 357 Facebook likes, more than seven times the average number of story likes.
• Utilized dynamic storytelling techniques by approaching stories from different angles.
• Skillfully leveraged social media to promote pieces.

WCPO Channel 9

10/2013-11/2018 Freelance News Journalist

Cincinnati, Ohio
• Earned front-page status with first story, “Studying on the High Seas: Four Sisters Make Semester at Sea Voyages A Family Affair,” on WCPO website.
• Interviewed guest speaker and political journalist Candy Crowley. Result: Story featured on Women’s City Club of Greater Cincinnati website.
• Wrote and illustrated conflict between democrats and republicans in “The White House vs. Capitol Hill.”
• Covered Palestinian protest in downtown Cincinnati during 2014 bombings and interviewed people on both sides of the conflict.

Urban Cincy

02/2015-04/2016 Freelance News Journalist

Cincinnati, Ohio
• Photographed and wrote front-page worthy stories for website aimed at covering development in the urban part of Cincinnati.
• One of the first to write about the entrepreneurship group MORTAR and their efforts to empower residents of Walnut Hills area.

iHeartMedia

05/2013-08/2013 Intern

Cincinnati, Ohio
• Brought abundant traffic to station websites by blogging and posting to social media.
• Split time between blogs and online news for 8 different stations, including Kiss 107, WEBN, and 700 WLW.
• Attended newsworthy events to shoot photos and learned to shoot video.
• Learned how to construct a full wrap in radio news format and gained knowledge in JavaScript.

Brown County Press

01/2013-04/2013 Intern

Mt. Orab, Ohio
• First journalist to write about country music artist and songwriter Noah Smith.
• Learned how to appeal to a local audience by writing stories about village events, state officials, and education issues.

University of Cincinnati Newspapers

09/2009-04/2013 Student Reporter

Cincinnati, Ohio
• Wrote about campus life, and covered beats at both papers. Result: Awarded “Most Stories Written in a Quarter” at The Activist.
• Wrote five stories in one week during exams!