Thomas Saccente Email & Phone Number

Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States

Write at least four articles every week for a daily newspaper that covers western and northwestern Arkansas. Includes two stories that are published digitally during the week and two that are published in the River Valley Democrat-Gazette, a print and digital publication that is released every Sunday and specifically dedicated to keeping residents in western Arkansas informed on issues impacting their community. Write news stories on a wide range of topics, including higher education, county government, city government outside of Fort Smith, crime, criminal justice, and county and federal court cases. Write feature stories on special events and people who have done noteworthy work in the community.Responsible for organizing a weekly email newsletter that presents all stories pertaining to the western Arkansas area that were written the previous week in one place, as well as growing the number of subscribers to the newsletter. Regularly coordinate with a staff photographer to produce high-quality photos and video to accompany my stories, sometimes photographing relevant subjects myself when needed to maintain this standard. Collaborate with others to create graphics, such as maps and charts, to better illustrate the subjects of stories to the readers, as well as other elements, such as polls, to elicit greater engagement online. Regularly partake in online training to learn best practices for being a reporter. Subjects include writing effective headlines for the web versions of stories, covering breaking news, using social media, and photography. Promote my work through social media.

Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States

Wrote articles for the largest newspaper in Arkansas, covering Fort Smith city politics, primary, secondary, and higher education, county politics, crime, criminal justice, and court cases, as well as other topics for feature stories. Photographed relevant subjects as often as possible to provide my stories visual accompaniment, a key element in online reader engagement. Worked with others to create graphics for stories as needed. Had frequent and in-depth discussions with an editor about possible story topics and how to create the best possible version of any given story. Promoted my work through social media.

Fort Smith, Arkansas, United States

Wrote articles for the largest newspaper in Arkansas, covering Fort Smith city politics, primary, secondary, and higher education, county politics, crime, criminal justice, and court cases, as well as other topics for feature stories. Photographed relevant subjects as often as possible to provide my stories visual accompaniment, a key element in online reader engagement. Worked with others to create graphics for stories as needed. Had frequent and in-depth discussions with an editor about possible story topics and how to create the best possible version of any given story. Promoted my work through social media.

Fort Smith, Arkansas Area

Wrote articles for a daily newspaper that covers six counties in western Arkansas and three counties in eastern Oklahoma. Wrote on a variety of subjects, including county and city politics, local crime, parks, education, elections, and special events. Regularly pitched ideas for articles to an editor and developed contacts to ensure a steady flow of content from week to week, often working under multiple simultaneous deadlines. Photographed and shot video of relevant subjects for certain articles. Promoted my work and that of my coworkers on Twitter.

Danville, Ky

Wrote scripts, casted roles, scheduled shoots, operated cameras, acted in and directed performances for Front and Centre, the Centre College sketch comedy club.

Danville, Ky

Wrote one to two articles on a bi-weekly basis. Each article required at least three interviews with three different people, had to be at least 800 words, and had to be written under strict deadlines. Wrote articles for multiple sections of the newspaper, including the Opinions, Arts and Leisure, News, and Features sections.Regularly pitched several proposals for articles to report on issues relevant to the Centre community at large, as well as promote local businesses. Promoted to staff writer in the autumn of 2014.

Little Rock, Arkansas Area

Raised money over the phone, created databases for accounting purposes, researched potential corporate donors, helped organize and set up major fundraising events such as the Jail and Bail and the March for Babies, and talked to several major publications in the Little Rock area to promote these events.

Little Rock, Arkansas Area

Pitched and produced original news content for public radio. Each story required recorded interviews with at least two different people (excerpts of which could not exceed twenty seconds each), had to be between three to five minutes in length, and had to meet many other specific guidelines before airing. Wrote and recorded voiceovers for these stories and edited them in between the interview excerpts for listeners to have an informative, yet seamless listening experience. Wrote and took pictures for the respective web versions of these stories.

Little Rock, Arkansas Area

Worked as a full-time landscaper during the summers of 2012 and 2013. Responsibilities included, among other things, weeding, lawn-mowing, digging ditches, trimming hedges, raking leaves, planting flowers/trees, sodding, mulching, tree/debris removal, and assisting in the installation of sprinkler systems. Occasionally responsible for working solo on certain job-sites so to allow supervisor and coworkers to work on other job-sites, thereby increasing productivity.

Bachelor'S Degree, English, Senior

Activities and Societies: The Cento (student newspaper), Vantage Point (student literary magazine), Front and Centre (student sketch.

High School, General Studies, Graduate