MICHAEL E. ROSS
206.678.6894
michaeler@gmail.com | Michael_e_ross@yahoo.com
OBJECTIVE
A position leveraging
extensive experience in content editing and production at a major news Web
site, portal or online entity with customer-facing content.
SUMMARY
10+ years in dynamic
online news- and feature-related editorial environments with emphasis on
editing breaking news and writing news and feature content; external partner
relationships; managing freelancers and editing their work; management of page
digests; weblog evaluation for hyperlocal journalism; and the multitasking
required at a daily breaking news operation. An early adopter of personal
technology, desktop publishing, search and social media. Strong news judgment,
headline writing and command of editorial best practices; a talent for content
packaging and image selection; experience with HTML, CSS and Photoshop
Elements; and a solid, experience-based grasp of blogger and social-media
culture.
BIOGRAPHICAL
June 2013 – present
Site producer and senior editor,
Current.com
Support senior editors in execution of news-editorial strategy for the Web site of the Emmy, duPont- and Peabody Award-winning Current TV network, based in San Francisco and reaching more than 60 million homes nationwide. I write sharp, engaging headlines and teases for the home page and program channels; edit narrative from video clips of Current TV programs from show producers; co-manage overnight and weekend homepage production; and manage story selection and production of The Daily Brief, an e-mail newsletter summary of Current.com’s top daily stories. The newsletter is sent to nearly 1 million subscribers.
Support senior editors in execution of news-editorial strategy for the Web site of the Emmy, duPont- and Peabody Award-winning Current TV network, based in San Francisco and reaching more than 60 million homes nationwide. I write sharp, engaging headlines and teases for the home page and program channels; edit narrative from video clips of Current TV programs from show producers; co-manage overnight and weekend homepage production; and manage story selection and production of The Daily Brief, an e-mail newsletter summary of Current.com’s top daily stories. The newsletter is sent to nearly 1 million subscribers.
July 2008 – November
2012
Various editing and
writing positions at MSN
(starting with most
recent)
News editor, MSN News
Performed wire selection,
daily editing, headline writing and page production for the news division of
the MSN portal, launching a redesigned news delivery platform that mirrors the
tile-based user interface of the Windows 8 operating system.
Producer, MSN Local
Edition Vertical
·
Generated and developed overall creative plan for product media
for this channel of the Microsoft portal attracting 500 million monthly unique
users;
·
Wrote media specifications and provide content development,
editorial and esthetic direction; co-manage daily content publishing to ensure
the strategic vision for the channel met business objectives;
·
Worked with freelance writers, content and production teams,
marketing and other stakeholders to increase site usage;
·
Recommended changes based on metrics analysis and customer
feedback.
Writer,
MSN Weekend Guide and MSN Postbox
·
Wrote entertainment digest items for Weekend Guide, distilling a
cross-section of pop culture, entertainment and sports events into digest
form;
·
Created content for Postbox, MSN’s image-driven UGC venture.
Hyperlocal blog
evaluation, MSN Local Edition
Provide human assessment
of hundreds of weblogs for integration into the vertical, and map and mobile
applications for the Bing search engine; helps deepen Microsoft online
properties’ hyperlocal coverage in suburban and intra-urban neighborhoods and
communities.
News editor and producer,
MSN Entertainment
·
Monitored wire story flow for the portal’s various Entertainment
channels, including Music, Movies and Television, editing work using
proprietary MSN content management and publishing tools;
·
Supported the Home Page team with recommendations of
Entertainment-vertical content for HP placement;
·
Selected and sized photographs for use in the daily Entertainment
report.
Editor, writer and
producer, MSN City Guides
·
Edited stories from national freelancers for the City Guides
vertical (later rebranded as Local Edition) in a proprietary content management
system;
·
Performed a range of writing assignments, general editing and
production tasks, including slideshows, photo selection and caption writing;
·
Liaised with three high-profile external editorial partners.
·
Wrote news-related feature stories for the channel, including
“best of” content focusing on events in selected U.S. cities.
June 2007 - December
2007:
Development editor,
TripSketch
·
Line-edited content by freelance travel writers in Europe and Asia;
·
Consulted with managers on possible news-editorial strategies, and
maintaining contact with writers on various revisions of content for this Palo
Alto, Calif.- based travel services startup Web site.
April 2001 – June 2007:
News editor, producer and reporter, NBCNews.com
(formerly msnbc.com)
News editor, producer and reporter, NBCNews.com
(formerly msnbc.com)
·
Edited news stories from Associated Press, Reuters and other
content providers for publication on the site, through a proprietary CMS;
·
Reworked scripts from NBC News correspondents into narrative
stories for publication in various site verticals; supervised edits of NBC News
videos;
·
Frequently wrote original stories for politics, entertainment and
news;
·
Acted as producer and UGC moderator of a site vertical on race and
ethnicity in the United States, and took full ownership of rebranding the
channel. Under my stewardship, channel page views grew by 20 percent.
·
Acted periodically as Sunday business editor, editing and
publishing wire features and news stories anticipating market activity for the
week ahead;
·
Contributed generally to the accuracy, tone and style of headlines
and content on the home page of the site, the online flagship of NBC News,
during a period when monthly unique users increased from a base of 10 million
in 2001 to almost 30 million in 2007.
EARLIER EXPERIENCE
Copy editor and acting
entertainment editor, San Jose Mercury News. Performed as a copy editor on
stories spanning lifestyle, entertainment and human interest. As acting
entertainment editor, selected and edited content for a 6X-weekly entertainment
page; selected art and headlines for the cover of the Sunday TV supplement;
monitored story budgets for entertainment and lifestyle sections.
Copy editor, The New York
Times. Acted as rim editor for the Culture, Arts & Leisure, style and
regional, metro and Sunday Styles desks, working on a wide range of news and
feature stories. Edited Times critics and cultural reporters for the daily
report and the Weekend entertainment section; wrote occasionally for the daily
section and for Sunday Arts & Leisure and the Book Review.
TECHNOLOGY
·
Proficient with Macintosh and Windows OS, Outlook and Word;
Internet Explorer, Safari, Chrome and Firefox browsers; various content management systems; and
Blogger and WordPress blogging platforms;
·
Have working knowledge of Photoshop CS4 and Photoshop Elements,
Constant Contact, CSS, XML and basic HTML; functional in Excel.
EDUCATION
·
Attended Department of Journalism & Mass Communications,
University of Colorado at Boulder. Took other courses at the CU Denver campus.
·
Received Bachelor of Science degree, Journalism.
ACADEMICS
·
Adjunct professor of journalism, Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism. Performed intensive interaction with students,
in-class analysis of their performance, graded assignments and mentored students.
·
Hearst Fellow, University of Colorado School of Journalism and
Mass Communications. As a visiting lecturer, I spoke to graduating seniors
about careers in journalism, the special challenges and opportunities of online
journalism, and the evolution of NBCNews.com as a news organization.
CONTENT
Comprehensive archive (news/features/blog
postings)
Short Sharp Shock. (current
affairs blog)
SOCIAL MEDIA
Twitter:
LinkedIn:
INFOGRAPHIC
CV
