MICHAEL C. BURGESS

BYRONIK.COM
SUMMARY
An editor with more than 12 years experience in the USA and in the United Kingdom. Proven skills include:
  • The recruitment, training and close supervision of a newsgathering team to transform a community newspaper into an influential news product.
  • Professional AP-style copy-editing, layout and design skills.
  • Running an effective newsroom, on a shoestring budget, to produce high-quality newspapers in San Diego's South County.
  • Rapid conversion of problematic copy into publishable material.
  • News reporting, feature writing, copy editing, assignment editing and pagination.
  • Microsoft Office (Outlook, Word, and Excel) Photoshop, QuarkXPress, PageMaker, Indesign, Acrobat and html.
    • PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
    Web content specialistSept. 2004 to present
    BYRONIK.COM
    Freelance editorial services for such clients as CompositesNews.com, SteelOrbis.com, Giorgino4Congress.com, sdscoop.com and Rent-A-Train.Com.
    Executive editorMarch 2002 to Sept. 2004
    San Diego Neighborhood Newspapers, Inc.
  • The Star-News — serving the communities of Chula Vista and National City (weekly circulation: 30,000)
  • San Diego Seniors — serving the 50+ generation of San Diego County (monthly circulation: 50,500)
    • During this time, two successive full-timers at The Star-News won San Diego Press Club Awards for best investigative news story (non-daily). Raw interns with nothing but a dream of some day being able to write news, were transformed to become accomplished journalists in their own right.
    Personally compiled and laid out the official programs for the annual Lemon Festival, the Cinco de Mayo celebrations, the Starlight Yuletide Parade, National City’s Automobile Heritage Day, the City of Chula Vista’s annual “Music by the Bay” events, and an occasional special publication for California’s largest high-school district.
    Bureau chiefJuly 2001 to Oct. 2001
    The Log Newspapers (the West Coast's source for boating news since 1971)
  • News writing
  • Photojournalism
  • Page layout
    • Freelance journalist2000 to July 2001
    BYRONIK.COM
  • Communications consultant to San Diego's Mainly Mozart Festival
  • Jazz critic for La Jolla Village News
    • EditorMarch 1999 to April 2000
    San Diego Community Newspaper Group, San Diego, CA.
    Total responsibility for editorial content of The Peninsula Beacon, which serves the communities of Point Loma, Ocean Beach, Shelter Island, Harbor Island and Loma Portal
  • Improved the standard and quantity of the paper's local news coverage.
  • Supplemented the city daily's coverage with soft second-day leads and outright hard news scoops.
  • Brought stability and professionalism to the look of the paper and its content.
  • Mentored news reporters and photojournalists in the production of news to a high standard of professionalism.
    • Feature writer1998
    London College of Communication
    Writing features for Back Hill Reporter, the weekly newspaper of the London College of Communication's School of Media.
    News editor1997
    London College of Communication
    Supervised and edited all news content in the Back Hill Reporter the weekly newspaper of the London College of Communication's School, of Media.
  • Managed a news-gathering team comprising 10 student journalists.
  • Initiated the Stop the Rat-run campaign, which led to local government applying traffic-calming measures to a notoriously dangerous local side street.
    • Writer1998
    The European Publishing Group, London, UK
    Writing features for trade titles including European Superstore Decisions, European Drinks Decisions and European Supply Chain Decisions on subjects ranging from point-of-sale printers to tequila production.
    Desktop publishing on Mac computers using QuarkXPress to exacting house style.
    Writer1997
    Various trade magazines
    Writing news, features, profiles and reviews for Computer Weekly, Internet Magazine, Accounting Technician, What Hi-Fi and Genie — a nationally recognized monthly magazine devoted to commentary and campus issues.
    Writer / comedy performer1989 to 1995
  • Twice-weekly residency performing improvised comedy at The Redan Tavern, London (1994-1995)
  • Writing comedy sketches for Thames Television's 'No Limits' — broadcast on Sky One (October 1994)
  • Writing theater reviews and satire for Scallywag magazine (1993 to 1994)
  • Writing comedy sketches for BBC Radio Light Entertainment's 'The News Huddlines' (April 1993)
  • Stand-up comedy at the Hackney Empire (October 1991)
  • Published verse includes: "Blue Rhapsody" [Once I was a Washing Machine ISBN 0 906411 02 5], "The Victims" [The Cream of the Troubadour Poets ISBN 0 905116 194].
    • EDUCATION
    Non-medical geriatric care — Trained by Comfort Keepers in the skills necessary to provide personal care for the elderly.Aug. 8, 2008
    CPR certified — Trained by AmeriMed in infant, child, adult CPR with AED & basic first aid to the standard approved by the California Emergency Medical Services AuthorityValid June 2008 to June 2010
    Bachelor's Degree (Honors) 4.0 GPA1998
    London College of Communication [University of the Arts London, England]
    Major: Journalism
    Minor: Political Science
    Final year dissertation studied the impact of the Internet on news media.
    British Army — Methods of Instruction course1983
    Combat Training Team — CQB (Close Quarter Battle) Course1981
    Hitchin Boys' Grammar School, Grammar School Walk, Hitchin, Hertfordshire, SG5 1JB +44(0) 1462 4321811968 to 1974
    Queen Street Junior School, 41-42 Queen St., Hitchin, SG4 9TS, United Kingdom +44 1462 4201441964 to 1968
    AWARDS
    San Diego Press Club J-Award (third place) for non-daily newspapers essay/commentary/opinionOct. 24, 2002
    AFFILIATIONS
    San Diego Press Club1998 to present
    ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
  • Actor in community theater productions: "Hay Fever," Onstage Playhouse, Chula Vista (2003), "The Engagement of Marjorie," Lamplighters Theater, La Mesa (2004), "Birthday Suite," Onstage Playhouse, Chula Vista (2005) and "Arcadia," The Cygnet Theatre, San Diego (2007).
  • Official picket organizer of the City of London Anti-Apartheid Group's Release Nelson Mandela Non-Stop Picket, which maintained a continuous and vociferous presence outside the South African Embassy in Trafalgar Square, London from 1986 to 1990.
  • Internet publishing: See the award-winning Web site at http://byronik.com.