Brandon Taylor
btay200@gmail.com
PERMANENT ADDRESS
200 N Lehigh St.
Tamaqua, PA 18252
(570) 205-7764
CURRENT ADDRESS
646 E. College Ave.
Meridian II, Apt. 101
State College, PA 16801
EDUCATION:
The Pennsylvania State University
College of Communications Class of 2009
Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism
Minor Degree in Political Science, History
EXPERIENCE:
CHINA DAILY, Beijing, China May 2009 – August 2009
International News Department intern – Played an integral role as a member of the night staff, editing copy, designing pages and writing headlines.
- Fine-tuned articles before placing them on a news page
- Assisted International News Department editor budget stories for each page
- Scanned wire services for articles of relevant interest to readership
- Proofread and made suggestions on International News pages
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, State College, PA July 2008 – May 2009
Copy Editor – Member of three person nightly copy desk, editing stories, designing pages and writing headlines. As the editor, I was often one of the last people to have a final say in how the paper looked.
- Edited and designed at least 2 pages each night
- Design using Quark XPress
- Responsible for front page content and headlines
- Integrated work environment with design and upper editorial staff
HOMECOMING VIDEOGRAPHY, State College, PA May 2008 – October 2008
Videography Team Captain – One of two people responsible for recording and editing video for the highly-celebrated annual university event. The projects required over 10 hours of video recording and extensive video editing. Intermediate work with new media, including website posting, was a responsibility of the position.
- Video capturing using digital video recorders
- Extensive video editing using Final Cut Pro and other industry software
- Delegated duties to other videographers
THE DAILY COLLEGIAN, State College, PA August 2007 – May 2008
Staff News Writer – Assigned to Education and State News beats where I excelled in developing source relations and providing up-to-date coverage on university news. During the 2008 Pennsylvania Primary election I played a fundamental role on our election team, reporting on candidates’ poll progress and appearances in the area as they campaigned.
- Worked closely with a group of reporters during 2008 Pa. Primary election
- Individual coverage of Democratic candidates’ progress in state
- Developed close source relations with local politicians and university administrators
BETHLEHEM PRESS, Bethlehem, PA May – August 2007
Editorial News Intern – The weekly publication presented the challenge of writing up-to-date stories when publication was only once a week. I placed a strong emphasis on writing follow-up articles as well as exploring alternative angles to maintain each article’s relevance.
- Extensive use of photographs to compliment articles
- Given responsibility over police reports and court issues
- Responsible for copy editing entire paper before print date
TIMES NEWS, Tamaqua, PA May – August 2006, 2007
News and Photography Intern –Covered borough council and other government meetings, in addition to all surrounding county governmental authorities. Meetings were held weekly, allowing me to write numerous times throughout the week, including follow-up articles.
- Covered borough council meetings individually
- Responsible for own photography and graphics
- Interviewed government officials, forging close source relations to get inside scoop on important community matters
TV-13 News, Lehighton, PA May – August 2006
Intern – Worked with reporters and producers to put together the nightly news cast. I was assigned the responsibility of editing individual newscasts and writing scripts for the news anchors. I also operated technical equipment in the studio, including cameras and teleprompters.
- Assisted in writing for each individual news segment
- Edited footage for newscast
- Technical experience in linear editing
- Technical experience in digital video editing
TIMES NEWS, Tamaqua, PA May 2001 – August 2006
News Correspondent – Given photo and article assignments on a weekly basis. Responsible for following-up on any leads from assignments.
- Emphasis on photography and photographic editing
- Development of understanding for writing styles and rule
HONORS AND AWARDS:
Pennsylvania Women’s Press Associate 2008 Scholarship recipientQuill and Scroll Award- 1st Place for a Feature Article- Mar. 2004Al Neuharth Free Spirit National Candidate representing Pennsylvania- 2005Pa. Society of Newspaper Editors - news and feature photography, first place; feature writing, first place-2004Pa. School Press Association - finalist (runner-up) Pa. Newspaper Student Journalist of the Year-2005
First Place- Feature photo, News photo, Feature writing, On-going News coverage- 2004 Keystone Press Award- April 2005
REFERENCES: Available upon request