Keep on Cruzing
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Follow along for Coastal California hikes, DIY Gardening Projects, Roadtrips and Camp Advice.
Would you consider a nontraditional candidate for the role of fact checker and copy editor?
I’m Laura Fries — a detail-oriented digital news obsessive, with decades of experience working with every publication tool and communication platform on the market. I worked in newsrooms across four states early in my career, adding content marketing and social media roles after obtaining my M.S. in Digital Media at Georgia Tech.
Santa Cruz County is a bellwether of an American future with a disappearing middle class, a runaway housing market, and brutal economic striations between north and south county. There are important stories here, and I’d like to help you tell them.
I’m impressed with your publication’s business model, and I look forward to speaking with you.
Sincerely,
Laura Fries
Application Q&A
laura fries for SANta Cruz Local
What experience do you have with reporting, fact checking or editing?
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Traditional Newsroom Roles
Staff Writer and Food Editor, San Antonio Current, San Antonio, TX, 2003-2004
Reporting and Writing Fellowship, Poynter Institute, St. Petersburg, FL, 2004
Web Editor, Creative Loafing newspaper chain, Atlanta, GA, 2004-2006
Web Director, Association of Alternative Newsmedia, Washington, D.C., 2007
Content Marketing Newsroom Role
Editor, Blog.HomeDepot.com, 2011-2016
- Managed team of 5 FTE writers & 1 copy editor with traditional newsroom flow of story assignments, fact checking, copy editing and daily publication
LINKS: editorial calendar & article style sheet
How familiar are you with local issues and local government?
• issues of importance: housing
• local media landscape, what’s missing
What perspectives can you bring to the role that will make Santa Cruz Local better?
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I was impressed that your organization utilized community listening workshops when designing a news product for Spanish language readers.
At Georgia Tech, my work focused on Community Design workshops, where we co-designed small scale robotic solutions directly with nonexpert farmers and gardeners.
I continued
Work Samples
In recent years, I’ve published articles on my personal site with original reporting and maps.
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Two years ago, the redwoods of Big Basin burned. See how the park rebounds in 2022, now that parts of it are finally open to the public.
Find the Santa Cruz Helpers
Help for Evacuees, Fundraisers, and More Ways to Donate
2020 Lighting Santa Cruz Mountain Fires
Screencaps and more maps of the fire damage reports published by Santa Cruz County August 25, 2020.
Photos & video of Bonny Doon, presented with context.
#CZULightningComplexFire
Learn more about the firebreak protecting Santa Cruz and UCSC from the 2020 Lightning Fires.
How to stream CAL FIRE and LOCAL TV NEWS
Updated 6pm August 23, 2020
Updates on the Santa Cruz Mountain Fires in the HWY 9 Communities of Ben Lomond, Boulder Creek and Felton.
Fire resource maps & CURRENT screencaps of fire evacuations for Santa Cruz Mountain fires.
Updated 8pm Sunday August 23, 2020.
Photos of Big Sur, Salinas, and Carmel 2020 fires.
#RiverFires #CarmelFire #DolanFire
Photos & video of 2020 Santa Cruz Mountain Fires, presented with context. Watch giant fireballs from space, see epic high def videos and watch local news clips.
When the heat wave collided with a river of lightning clouds which set fire to the California Coast mountains. During the Coronavirus Pandemic.
