Whitney Dangerfield

—Edited essays for the Ideas section. Worked on a wide range of topics, including politics, health, science, education, the rural-urban divide, how we live, the environment, relationships, culture, and family. Published first-person essays, book excerpts, and news-driven opinion pieces. —Generated ideas daily and match those ideas with staff, contract, or freelance writers. Worked with staff and contract writers to come up with individual editorial plans. Brainstormed with writers to prompt ideas. Fielded numerous pitches daily. Evaluated and edited book excerpts. —Responded quickly to the news, while also planning ahead to make sure the section was starting conversations as well as reacting to them. —Cultivated a diverse group of freelance writers. Developed new writing talent. —Wrote all display copy and worked with an audience team to test headlines. —Worked independently, juggling several pieces at different stages of production. Collaborated with fellow editors, as well as the copy desk, audience team, and art department.

—Created multimedia for the This American Life website. Served as art director, commissioning illustrations, assigning photographers, or finding photos for all new shows. —Managed the redesign of the This American Life website, from the look of the site to how content was organized. This included collaborating with a design team and artists, as well as meeting expectations from management and staff. —Re-designed the This American Life app, working with a firm to create an entirely new look and user experience.

—Charged with interpreting the themes and feelings of a given podcast or show, which is obviously in one medium — audio — and transforming it into something engaging and visually arresting in another form — a website. —Managed all creative and editorial aspects of the sites for Serial Season Three, Serial Season Two, and S-Town. Served as art director, conceiving of the concept and branding for the shows, and managed a group of animators, illustrators, and designers to make the ideas a reality. —Conceived of, edited, wrote, and managed multimedia for Serial Season Two, including four maps, a timeline, articles, and interactives. Won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Program Website. —Reported on and researched different aspects of the stories for Serial Seasons Two and Three for the host. —Participated in edits of all episodes of Serial Seasons Two and Three, S-Town, and several This American Life shows.

—Taught classes about multimedia storytelling, including how to evaluate an idea or raw material to find the right medium for the project — whether it’s a photo essay, article, graphic, audio. Studied the story techniques of many different published works.

—Edited, produced, and generated ideas for multimedia projects, including audio features, quizzes, and photo essays. —Creator and Editor of Draft, a weekly series about the art of writing. The series ran for three years and often landed on the Most Read lists. Won the Publisher’s Award for my work on the series. —Editor for Exposures, a photo essay series. Text editor for Year in Pictures. —Edited numerous Op-Ed, Opinionator, and Sunday Review essays on topics ranging from multiple personality disorder to coal mining, from reflections on grief to differing perspectives on race. —Cultivated a large group of freelance writers. —Planned and executed audience development for stories, from placement on the homepage to outreach on social media. —Helped usher the section through an expansive relaunch. —Three-Time Recipient of the Publisher’s Award, including an award given to me, as an individual, for creating and editing Draft.

—Planned what to feature on the home page, while monitoring the wires, filtering through numerous requests from the newsroom and features, writing and editing summaries, checking html code, monitoring the competition and adhering to tight deadlines. —Honed technical skills as a news producer. Proved versatility in working on different news desks.

—Contributing writer for Smithsonian Magazine Online. Writing also appeared in The Washington Post, National Geographic Traveler, AARP.ORG, Preservation Magazine and Blue Ridge Country Magazine. —Web Producer for AARP The Magazine. Served as liaison between developers and editorial staff for redesign of the news site for AARP Bulletin Today. Helped produce guides and multimedia on topics such as caregiving and travel. —Research assistant for nonfiction book author and researcher for National Geographic Channel International.

—Writer for Inside Geographic and Color of Money, a page about the world’s currencies. Authored pieces for Family of Man, Wildlife, Culture, Geographica. Accumulated more than fifty clips in three years. —Editor for letters to the editor. Edited Departments, as needed, working with researchers to prepare pages for print. —Generated and developed ideas for Departments stories. Rigorously reported assigned stories. —Managed production flow. Helped provide a smooth transition to the redesign. Managed interns.

—Managed the director of text’s office, including copy flow, writers’ payments, expenses, editor’s calendar. —Editorial Coordinator for NGM’s International Editions; Fact-checker for the Book Division; Executive Assistant.

—Researched investment opportunities for Irish venture capital firm; handled administrative duties.