Michael Baggs Email & Phone Number

London, Gb

London Area, United Kingdom

London, England, United Kingdom

I managed a team of full-time and freelance news reporters focusing on LGBTQ+ news for a global audience, led meetings, set the daily news agenda for a queer readership, commissioned reporters and implemented strategy to increase audience, reach and readership, as well as keeping across breaking news.- Editorial team leadership: I led daily editorial meetings, working through reporter pitches, trending topics and SEO trends to prioritise and commission content on a daily basis - as well as bringing my own priorities to every meeting.- Subbing and editing: Focusing on PinkNews news content (not entertainment), I subbed and edited a large number of pieces,, working with reporters to source original comments, move stories on and deliver first-class news content that was distinct and engaging.- Line management: I was directly responsible for a team of full-time reporters, and their development. I worked closely with each of them to improve their work on every level, from how they sourced stories, how they would construct original stories and their day-to-day writing skills.- Features commissioning: I also led PinkNews features / original content, working with reporters on the stories they wanted to pursue, how to approach and present their work and deliver diverse and important exclusives.- Strategy: At the end of 2023 I was involved in implementing and driving a new strategy for the PinkNews website, working alongside Audience and Tech teams to more than triple web traffic in less than three months.

London, England, United Kingdom

I lead the online team at Radio 1 Newsbeat, where I have a senior role producing online content, which is a mix of written and digital video for the BBC News website and bespoke social media content for Newsbeat’s social media channels.• Writing: I write original pieces of journalism, sourced and pitched myself on a variety of issues, mostly relating to 16-24 year olds. I write to the highest standards and lead my team in terms of writing and presentation of written work.• Commissioning: I commission short-term and long term pieces, both independently and as part of a planning team for more in-depth features.• Editing: I work closely with reporters on their work, contributing ideas to improve written and digital video pieces, subbing for errors, improving copy and writing impactful headlines. This also applies across social media content as well

London, United Kingdom

Freelance broadcast journalist for Radio 1 Newsbeat online.

Hammersmith, London

I worked as part of an international editorial team, initially as a journalist / content producer but later as the editor and manager of all Shazam editorial content.- Editorial management: Devising and implementing an editorial offering that was uniquely Shazam, based on users activity and fast-moving tracks on the Shazam charts with the goal of delivering content that was unique and distinctly Shazam.- Staff management: Managing an international team of content producers / music journalists in London and LA. I also worked closely with the San Francisco social media team to co-ordinate social support and ensure Shazam social tied-up with editorial output.- Music journalism: Subbing and editing work from junior team members for publication - as well as creating editorial pieces myself. I also wrote a monthly column for Mixmag, focused on emerging dance tracks and trends, pulled directly from Shazam data and charts.- Data analysis and implementation: Analysing data and charts to create unique editorial content for an audience of millions of worldwide Shazam users.- Publication schedule: Running a daily publishing schedule to best prioritise content.Shazam’s specific publishing system and in-app ‘newsfeed’ was tailored to individual users, meaning strategic planning was required to surface the best and most relevant content for every user.- Interview skills: Interviewing A-list musicians and creating first class video content. Through reputation and close ties with industry execs, I was involved in securing access to some of the biggest stars in music.- PR / label liaison: Working closely with record labels and PR organisations to schedule content content to tie-in with release schedules and promotional activity.- Planning / scheduling: Planning and managing a monthly editorial calendar and working weeks in advance, covering major events in the music industry alongside the timely publication of our own exclusive content.

London, United Kingdom

- Team management: I was responsible for a team of up to six writers and video content producers.- Sourcing the biggest and best music news stories.- Writing daily news stories, interviewing musicians (text and video) and writing features. - Reacting in the moment to deliver timely content on a daily basis to reflect the biggest news and produce relevant content for our millions of readers.- Working with music PRs and record label executives on a daily basis, securing exclusive content, interviews and video shoots for Gigwise. In my time working at Gigwise, I have built up a huge contacts list for the biggest names in music in the UK and beyond.- Using real time data from Google Analytics and Chartbeat to pinpoint daily trends in order to influence our content on a daily basis- SEO: delivering search friendly headlines in order to maximise traffic.- Homepage management: Maintaining a sharp, appealing homepage at all times to ensure a compelling, clean user experience for all visitors to the website- Social media management: running Twitter and Facebook accounts for Gigwise, ensuring clear tone of voice and compelling tweets and posts to maximise traffic to the site.- Managing freelancers: I was responsible for sourcing freelance writers and photographers to write reviews, cover festivals and interview musicians.- Subbing: managing other team members’ content for style and errors.- Admin skills: managing freelancers invoices, travel expenses and other administration duties.

Old Street, London

I run a small team providing written and video content for Orange Music.My work for Somethin’ Else requires:• Sourcing and writing daily news and weekly reviews targeted at two distinct audiences across Orange’s web and wap platforms.• Subbing and editing work from other writers to ensure all written content is of a high standard.• Acting as a liaison between the company and client (Somethin’ Else and Orange).• Working closely with Orange on development of their music strategy.• Scheduling content appropriate to audience to run on web and wap.• Dealing daily with record label representatives and pluggers.• Arranging and attending video interview shoots alongside video production editor.• Arranging and managing workflow throughout the week for myself and team.• Sourcing freelance staff when necessary.• Use of CMS.

Paddington, London

My role involved working with channel editors to deliver entertainment content to Orange.co.uk users through homepage promotion.My work for Orange.co.uk required:• Controlling all editorial content on the Orange homepage.• Excellent writing and online presentation for web skills.• To be able to make immediate editorial judgements over breaking news stories and deliver editorial content extremely quickly.• Working closely with editors regarding editorial and visual presentation on the Orange homepage.• Continually working to improve and develop editorial style and standards.• Monitoring daily page hits and adjusting content and writing style to improve hits on the Orange homepage.• Ensuring a high standard accuracy on the Orange homepage.

Leicester Square, London

Working exclusively on a Sony PlayStation account for a major PR firm in central London, the role was split between devising promotional campaigns for various PlayStation titles, copywriting and liaising with international PlayStation executives advising on strategy for Europe-wide game launches.My work at Four Communications required:• Excellent copywriting skills and the ability to meet extremely tight deadlines.• Writing press releases and PR plans.• Online content management.• Strategy and planning PR campaigns to run across Europe.• Hosting brainstorm meetings when planning a campaign for a new title launch.• Client liaison.• Representing clients at public events.

Chelsea, London

An online editorial company founded by websites Holy Moly and Popjustice. Their main client is Channel 4's music site, '4music'. My work was based mainly on Popjustice (Features Editor) and 4music (Community Editor).My work at HM-PJ required:• Interview, news, review and blog writing skills. • Commissioning work from freelance writers.• Excellent communication skills and industry contacts.• Experience building features and updating site modules on a variety of CMS.• Community managing experience, keeping up to date with new additions to '4unsigned', 4music's unsigned bands community.• Working on editorial and promotions for the best bands registered on 4unsigned.• Working closely with Channel 4 online production and design teams on development of forums and community aspects of 4music.• Forum moderating and discussion generation.