Erica N. Christoffer
Chicago, Illinois
@ericanoel - ericachristoffer@gmail.com - penstreetpress.com
Profile
Award-winning journalist with a track record for clear and accurate storytelling. More than seven years experience writing for both print and online publications. Well versed in online content management, Web production, social media, audio editing for Podcasts and creating multimedia slideshows.
Experience
Multimedia Web Producer - REALTOR® Magazine, National Association of REALTORS® Chicago, Ill. (June 2008-present)
- Manage REALTOR® Magazine’s Web site, realtormag.realtor.org. Plan, edit and post articles via CMS. Coordinate technical and design projects. Monitor work-flow and deadlines. Review print articles and edit online exclusive articles.
- Write regular stories and monthly features for both print and online. Create, edit and deploy two e-newsletters.
- Maintain Style, Staged & Sold, Weekly Book Scan and YPN Lounge blogs. Contribute weekly blog posts. Manage teams of contributing bloggers. Promote via member e-newsletters and social media.
Editor/Contributing Reporter – ChicagoTalks.org, Chicago, Ill. (Sept. 2007-July 2009)
- Led a nine-month special investigation of the Chicago City Council that found several committees had broken state law. Series was jointly published in May 2008 on ChicagoTalks and The Beachwood Reporter. Honored by the National Society of Professional Journalists in August 2009.
- Sole editor for ChicagoTalks.org (Dec. 2008-May 2009). Edited and posted nearly 200 stories. Launched promotion via new media networking/sites, Twitter and Facebook, and trained new editor.
Housing Action Program Researcher – Rogers Park Community Council, Chicago, Ill. (Jan. 2008-Aug. 2008)
- Tracked foreclosures in residential buildings throughout the Rogers Park neighborhood using public records. Maintained housing records. Replied to tenant inquiries.
- Contributed news stories for the RP2000 Newspaper.
Community Editor/Reporter – Sun Newspapers, Eden Prairie, Minn. (Dec. 2002-Aug. 2007)
- Covered local news in the communities of Apple Valley, Rosemount and School District 196, including government, features, police/fire and special packages. Wrote daily breaking news stories for the Web. Delegated assignments to staff photographers and edited the paper for pagination. In all, wrote more than 1,500 stories in position.
- Management experience included training two reporters and overseeing a five-person news team. Team lead on Minnesota State Legislature transportation coverage.
- Foreign correspondence in Bosnia embedded with the Minnesota National Guard (Dec. 2003).
Education
Master of Arts, Public Affairs Journalism, Columbia College, Chicago, Ill. Graduated with a 4.0 GPA (May 2009).
- Editorial Board Intern – Chicago Tribune, Tribune Co., Chicago, Ill. (Sept. 2008-Dec. 2008): Wrote blog entries, managed letters to the editor, participated in endorsement interviews, researched and compiled data for editorials.
Bachelor of Arts, Art History, College of St. Catherine, St. Paul, Minn. (May 2002).
Skills
Proficient in both P.C. and Mac operating systems, HTML, Photoshop CS3, Illustrator, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audacity, GarageBand, iMovie. Expert in computer-assisted reporting and filing Freedom of Information Act requests.
Accomplishments
- Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi Award, investigative reporting for an independent Web site (2008).
- Suburban Newspapers of America award, best in-depth reporting (2007).
- Society of Professional Journalists (Minnesota chapter), Page One Award, investigative reporting (2005).
- Minnesota Newspaper Association awards, investigative reporting (2006) and editorial writing (2005).
