Robin Blackburn-Jerkins
120 S. Johnson St. Phone: 512-665-5877
San Marcos, TX 78666 (U.S.) E-mail: tweeked_cat@yahoo.com
Have Pen, Will Travel
Skills
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Writing news stories, feature stories, publicity materials, ad copy, reviews¨
Leadership and team-building skills¨
Generating story ideas, prioritizing, delegating tasks, setting and sticking to deadlines¨
Good communication skills ¨ Bilingual English-Spanish (intermediate)¨
Computer program knowledge includes: Quark Xpress, MS Word and Works, Aldus PageMaker, Adobe Photoshop, Netscape and MS Explorer¨
Typing (90+ wpm) ¨ Proofreading and editing ¨ Organizing ¨ Researching¨
Graphic design, page design and layout, pre-press workEducation
San Marcos High School (1990)
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Graduated and completed school’s honors program¨
Scored in top 2 percent nationally on English portion of the ACTSt. Edward’s University (December 1995)
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B.A. in English writing, magna cum laude ¨ Completed University Honors ProgramWork Experience
Assistant Managing Editor, Seguin Gazette-Enterprise
(11.2003-present)
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Delegating tasks to staff of 4-6 writers; keeping staff on task and motivated; writing news and feature stories and editorial columns; maintaining good relations with subscribers, advertisers and news sources; page layout, page design and occasionally graphic design; toning photos; staying updated on legal issues related to the profession; organizing information; proofreading and editing; typingGraphic Artist, San Marcos Daily Record
(5/2002-11/2003)
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Building classified display ads for daily newspaper; following customers’ exact specifications at times and at other times using creativity to produce effective, eye-catching ads and spec ads; page layout; designing and writing copy for house ads and fillers; typing; toning photos.Freelance Writer/Editor/Graphic Artist
(2/2002-present)
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Writing feature stories for Seguin Gazette-Enterprise, writing poetry and short fiction, copy editing colleagues’ manuscripts, producing flyers and publicity materials for a local band and for promotion of my own and a colleague’s literary endeavors¨
Successfully promoted two poetry parties by writing press releases, designing ads, planning ad campaign and using media contacts to have feature articles writtenAssistant Managing Editor, Seguin Gazette-Enterprise
(8/2001-2/2002)
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Delegating tasks to staff of 4-6 writers, writing news and feature stories; proofreading and editing; page layout with Quark; representing newspaper at community eventsContributing Editor, Suite101.com
(3/2000-10/2001)
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Writing one article per month on ranching and ranching-related Web sites; online research and several interviews conducted by e-mail; unpaid positionFeatures Editor, Seguin Gazette-Enterprise
(2/1999-8/2001)
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Generating ideas for and writing feature stories; design and layout of Sunday full-page features and pages for Tuesday-Friday editions; making and maintaining contacts with news sources; working to expand variety of feature stories; occasionally assigning stories to others; serving as proofreader/copy editor; covering 3 school districts, serving as entertainment editor and church news editorStaff Writer, Seguin Gazette-Enterprise
(6/1998-2/1999)
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Generating story ideas; writing feature articles; taking photos; typing; proofreading; page layout; covering one school district, local history and arts, education, religion, crime reports; researching court records¨
Skills developed include interviewing, public relations, photo scanning, graphics design, layout, research, time management, teamwork, prioritizingGraphic Artist, San Marcos Daily Record
(3/1996-6/1998)
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Following exact specifications for building retail display ads for daily newspaper; color separation; sizing photographs; typing, proofreading; page layout; designing and writing copy for house ads and fillers, using creativity; organizing work area to streamline productionCollege Work
Senior Editor, ARETE (Vol. 5), St. Edward’s University
(4/1994-4/1995)
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Overseeing production of award-winning student academic journalWriting Intern, St. Edward’s University News
(8/1994-12/1994)
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Serving as intern and assistant to editor of St. Edward University’s alumni newsletterIntern, English Dept./Project Success, St. Edward’s University
(9/1993-12/1993)
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Assisting teacher in remedial freshman English classHonors and Awards
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Received Texas APME honorable mention award for column writing, 2001¨
Received award from Precious Life Crusade suicide prevention organization (Seguin, TX) for news articles and publicity related to its work (2000)¨
Named to Texas Association of School Boards Media Honor Roll by Navarro Independent School District (Geronimo, TX) (2000)¨
Named Honorary Citizen of Seguin (1998)¨
Received St. Edward’s University Student Publications Award of Excellence (1994),Certificate of Outstanding Service (1995) and Distinguished Service Award (1996)
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Senior thesis on ethics and accountability in journalism published in ARETE (Vol. 6)¨
ARETE (Vol. 5) received First Place with Special Merit and Outstanding Academic Journal at American Scholastic Press Association AwardsReferences available upon request