David Collins Email & Phone Number

I plan, curate, design and edit special sections for the AJC's ePaper to make it far more than just a replica of the print edition. In fact, I'm leading a REVOLUTION pushing the boundaries of technology to make our ePaper more closely resemble the gee-whiz newspapers in the movie "Minority Report" or the Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter films than a traditional newspaper. Our ePaper at first glance looks like a faithful digital reproduction of the printed paper, but some of the photos are… Show more I plan, curate, design and edit special sections for the AJC's ePaper to make it far more than just a replica of the print edition. In fact, I'm leading a REVOLUTION pushing the boundaries of technology to make our ePaper more closely resemble the gee-whiz newspapers in the movie "Minority Report" or the Daily Prophet in the Harry Potter films than a traditional newspaper. Our ePaper at first glance looks like a faithful digital reproduction of the printed paper, but some of the photos are actually videos. Or photo galleries. We have podcasts embedded into the pages. Our sports pages have special widgets that bring readers up-to-the-minute updates of scores, standings and stories for the major sports. I lead a small but elite team of journalists who each have every skill in the box and who are finding new ways every week to reinvent the newspaper for a new age. The special sections we produce exclusively for the ePaper include a weekly sports digital magazine that averages about 60 tabloid pages, plus high-impact special sections that emphasize non-traditional storytelling (alternative story formats) that we publish after EVERY game by the Braves, Hawks, Falcons, Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets. That's just part of fulfilling our mission to bring readers in-depth coverage of breaking news and sports events that happen too late to make the print edition. We collaborate with reporters, photographers, designers, editors, producers, marketing specialists and tech geniuses in a daily quest to reach new heights. Our goal is nothing short of creating the best ePaper in the world. We aim to light the way for the entire industry and entice more and more readers to transition to this much more environmentally friendly way of experiencing news that combines the best parts of the print experience (meticulously curated, visually weighted and expertly edited) with the best aspects of digital news (interactive, continuously updated, environmentally friendly). Show less

Decided staff and wire content for sections of the AJC print edition and oversaw their production, with heavy emphasis on creating entry points and turning traditional stories into ASFs. Also designed and edited special sections on the Atlanta Braves and Hawks for the AJC ePaper.

Miami, Florida, United States

Wrote or edited press releases, newsletters, blog posts and other internal and external communications for one of the country's most prestigious nonprofit organizations while also serving as a writing coach for less-experienced staff. Knight Foundation invests in journalism, in the arts and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Its goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which Knight believes are essential for a healthy… Show more Wrote or edited press releases, newsletters, blog posts and other internal and external communications for one of the country's most prestigious nonprofit organizations while also serving as a writing coach for less-experienced staff. Knight Foundation invests in journalism, in the arts and in the success of cities where brothers John S. and James L. Knight once published newspapers. Its goal is to foster informed and engaged communities, which Knight believes are essential for a healthy democracy. Show less

The Villages, Florida

The No. 2 position in a 70-person newsroom. I helped direct all editorial operations at America's fastest growing daily newspaper. That included helping lead the planning and execution of daily stories as well as award-winning projects, all with an intense focus on community journalism. I often represented the newsroom in high-level meetings with other departments and with community leaders. Monitored newsroom expenses and ensured company policies were followed and financial targets were met… Show more The No. 2 position in a 70-person newsroom. I helped direct all editorial operations at America's fastest growing daily newspaper. That included helping lead the planning and execution of daily stories as well as award-winning projects, all with an intense focus on community journalism. I often represented the newsroom in high-level meetings with other departments and with community leaders. Monitored newsroom expenses and ensured company policies were followed and financial targets were met. Helped recruit and hire top talent, and more importantly, led efforts to cultivate talent already on staff and accelerate the careers of top performers by developing an internal leadership academy that prepared those selected to take on larger roles in the newsroom. Show less

West Palm Beach, Florida Area

I led a design and editing desk that worked on seven daily newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin American-Statesman (named the top newspaper in Texas three times in four years while I slotted it) and The Palm Beach Post. At the operation's peak, I supervised 55 direct reports, including many remote workers. I helped design and implement a sweeping overhaul of the company’s print workflow that launched in 2018. That helped our seven newspapers focus resources on… Show more I led a design and editing desk that worked on seven daily newspapers, including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Austin American-Statesman (named the top newspaper in Texas three times in four years while I slotted it) and The Palm Beach Post. At the operation's peak, I supervised 55 direct reports, including many remote workers. I helped design and implement a sweeping overhaul of the company’s print workflow that launched in 2018. That helped our seven newspapers focus resources on digital by maximizing the efficiency of our print operations. In addition to the staff I supervised in Florida, I worked closely with colleagues in Georgia, Ohio and Texas and oversaw daily work done by multiple outside companies for our newspapers. I led the training of third-party vendors in India and the Philippines, enabling them to successfully produce news pages for Cox Media Group each day, and I managed the complicated process of receiving, placing and proofing hundreds of PDFs each week from another vendor based in the U.S. I also directed the daily production of an extensive group of “digital extras” – entire sections that appeared only in the replica e-papers as a subscriber bonus – including many I planned, designed and edited myself on deadline to improve CMG’s coverage of major news that broke after print deadlines. I was Initially hired as News Operations Manager to run just the news production desk in West Palm Beach, but in 2015 I was promoted to Site Manager and my responsibilities expanded to include producing the sports sections for all of CMG’s newspapers. I significantly cut operational costs for sports production and yet simultaneously improved the performance metrics as well as the feedback ratings from Cox newspapers. Show less

Orlando, Florida Area

‣ Supervised copy desk; trained copy editors and page designers to post stories, photos and videos, create story and picture galleries, generate maps and polls, ensure use of SEO best practices and promote stories through social media channels. Under my leadership, copy desk did so well with web work that it was given responsibility for curating the website from 5 a.m. to midnight while still maintaining print duties. ‣ Directed all newsgathering efforts at night, serving as a de facto… Show more ‣ Supervised copy desk; trained copy editors and page designers to post stories, photos and videos, create story and picture galleries, generate maps and polls, ensure use of SEO best practices and promote stories through social media channels. Under my leadership, copy desk did so well with web work that it was given responsibility for curating the website from 5 a.m. to midnight while still maintaining print duties. ‣ Directed all newsgathering efforts at night, serving as a de facto night metro editor directly supervising night cops reporters and sometimes augmenting their reporting with my own. ‣ Pioneered use of crowdsourcing and user-generated content to help report breaking news, such as a fire at a theme park and tornadoes that struck on the edges of our coverage area. ‣ Led budget meetings to decide A1 lineups; determined play for all other stories. ‣ Ensured all stories met paper's standards, sometimes holding ones that fell short or working with reporters and editors to bring them up to par quickly. ‣ Job title changed as duties expanded. Show less

Orlando, Florida Area

‣ Led staff of 19 reporters, 3 columnists and 3 editors covering state government, politics, Washington news affecting Central Florida, the space program, education, Orlando and Orange County governments, military and veterans, transportation and the environment. ‣ Under my leadership, reporters who previously had no digital footprint became highly engaged in creating content for the web, including many innovative projects, such as: - An award-winning Flash presentation… Show more ‣ Led staff of 19 reporters, 3 columnists and 3 editors covering state government, politics, Washington news affecting Central Florida, the space program, education, Orlando and Orange County governments, military and veterans, transportation and the environment. ‣ Under my leadership, reporters who previously had no digital footprint became highly engaged in creating content for the web, including many innovative projects, such as: - An award-winning Flash presentation revealing new details (unearthed through FOIA requests) about a historic plane crash - Live blogging by a columnist and a news reporter during the most significant votes by public officials in the city's history - A temporary blog specifically to answer readers' questions about a confusing series of property tax proposals by Florida lawmakers - An online calculator that allowed car buyers to determine how long it would take for the gas savings from a hybrid car to make up for the vehicle's extra cost, and how that figure would change as the price of gas rose or fell - A video blog about the life of a homeless teenager shot by the teen himself after he proved too skittish for staff videographers - An interactive ranking of Central Florida schools that allowed readers to choose any combination of up to 20 measures of school performance to instantly produce a ranking based on the criteria they considered most important Show less

Orlando, Florida Area

Ensured quality of all stories, headlines and pages in each day's paper; supervised wire desk; generated additional content for the web as part of branding initiative; quickly helped solve longstanding pageflow problems.

Orange City, Florida

‣ Initiated and led the Sentinel's top project for 2004, a major expansion in our coverage of fast-growing west Volusia County, with more staff, more products and more zoning. The initiative exceeded every company goal for increases in subscribers and ad revenue, and I received the newspaper's in-house Leadership Award for the year. ‣ Supervised a staff of 15 reporters, 2 news assistants, 2 photographers, an office clerk and an assistant editor.‣ Directed coverage of stories with… Show more ‣ Initiated and led the Sentinel's top project for 2004, a major expansion in our coverage of fast-growing west Volusia County, with more staff, more products and more zoning. The initiative exceeded every company goal for increases in subscribers and ad revenue, and I received the newspaper's in-house Leadership Award for the year. ‣ Supervised a staff of 15 reporters, 2 news assistants, 2 photographers, an office clerk and an assistant editor.‣ Directed coverage of stories with national interest, including the X-box murders in Deltona, the mysterious disappearance of a grandmother and her 10-year-old grandson, a serial killer stalking Daytona Beach and annual coverage of special events such as Bike Week, Speedweeks, Black College Reunion and spring break. ‣ Helped develop numerous young journalists who have gone on to stellar achievements with the AP, the Wall Street Journal and other publications. Show less

‣ Led a staff of 16 copy editors who produced Local & State section and all zoned products.

‣ Supervised team of seven designers.

‣ Split time between copy editing and designing news sections.‣ Spent nine months on special assignment to implement total redesign of paper in new CMS and at new width. ‣ Designated one of the newsroom's first CCI "SuperUsers" with the ability to diagnose and fix problems on deadline and help others learn best practices.‣ Mastered complex tab charts and became the "go to" person in the newsroom for producing top quality charts on deadline.

‣ Responsible for all aspects of newspaper's design. ‣ Page One designer for six editions a week. Duties included wire editing, photo editing, copy editing and headline writing. ‣ Implemented total redesign of the newspaper. ‣ Led newspaper from paste-up production to pagination.

‣ Directed staff of three (1 reporter, 1 clerk, 1 advertising manager) responsible for publishing weekly newspaper in Seward, Alaska. ‣ Wrote stories, shot photos, assigned stories, edited copy, packaged ads and planned all coverage.

‣ Covered cops, courts, sports, the city of Kenai and several eruptions of nearby volcanoes that disrupted daily life for our readers. ‣ Often designed and edited sports section. ‣ In charge of all aspects of creating and producing the paper's weekly features section.

University Of Alaska Anchorage

‣ Produced award-winning weekly sports section for student-run newspaper serving the University of Alaska Anchorage.