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Zennie
Michael Zennie
Michael Zennie is an editor and writer in New York. He is currently News Director for People.com.
Clips
Resume
People.com
New York, N.Y.
June 2015-Present
Run day-to-day editorial operations as News Director for People.com – 60 million monthly unique visitors
Lead coverage of breaking and ongoing news stories using reporters and editors across the United States and around the world
Supervise 50 editors and reporters covering entertainment, politics, crime and human interest stories for the largest online entertainment news brand in the United States
Work with video editors to help direct digital and social video coverage across the site
Grew Apple News audience three-fold in six months, to 7 million monthly visitors
Oversaw five-fold growth in revenue from editorial partnerships in eight months
Write and re-write dozens of headlines a day for punch, length and SEO
Assist in developing social media strategy and managing social media team
Assign, direct and edit news stories with a focus on improving accuracy and clarity
Oversee coverage of issue-based stories, including an investigation of the first female U.S. Army Ranger School graduates that drove 1 million readers to People.com
Coordinate with senior magazine editors to produce digital coverage and translate stories from print to online
Responsible for managing and directing all stages of the editorial process: pitching and developing story ideas; reporting, writing and editing copy; crafting headlines; working with legal counsel; selecting photos; and producing video content
Daily Mail Online
New York, N.Y.
November 2011-May 2015
Assistant U.S. News Editor for the world’s largest English-language newspaper website - 200 million monthly unique visitors
Trained U.S. staffers on new content management system and served as editorial liaison to technical team
Vetted, trained and oriented new reporters
Scoured wide variety of online and offline news sources to find and assign stories for team of six to 10 reporters on nights and weekends
Wrote and re-wrote headlines and edited copy for 20 to 30 stories per day
Coordinated show business coverage with reporters and editors in London, New York, Los Angeles and Sydney as editor of "right rail of fame"
Made live national TV appearances as a representative of Daily Mail Online
Broke major national news stories by obtaining exclusive interviews and photos
Traveled to cover major events in highly competitive news environments
Previously served as Senior Writer and covered wide range of topics – from politics to crime, entertainment and science
Was responsible for all aspects of publishing stories online – including obtaining pictures and video, reporting, writing the copy and fact-checking
Negotiated usage and copyright issues for pictures and video footage
Fayetteville Observer
Fayetteville, N.C.
June 2010-October 2011
Covered rapidly developing county for 55,000-circulation regional newspaper
Covered death penalty trial of gunman convicted of killing eight people in nursing home mass shooting
Regularly used social media for live tweeting and to interact with readers
Journal Gazette
Fort Wayne, Ind.
November 2008-June 2010
Covered police beat at 65,000-circulation newspaper in competitive news market
Served as a weekend website editor
Banner Graphic
Greencastle, Ind.
August-January 2007
Developed stories at 6,500-circulation newspaper that led to state investigation of sheriff. He was indicted and served time in federal prison
Reported on the health department’s discovery of a deer carcass in a popular local restaurant as well as previous violations. The restaurant later closed
Education
Indiana University, Bloomington
Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, 2008
Concentration in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures with focus on Arabic language
Served as editor-in-chief of award-winning student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student