My Resume
WINSTON ROSS
1594 Larkspur Loop | Eugene, OR 97401 | cell 541-999-8097
email | winstonross22@gmail.com blog | winstonross.wordpress.com
EXPERIENCE
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THE REGISTER-GUARD Eugene, Ore.
April 2003 – current | Coast/greater Lane County reporter
The Oregon Coast is a place of great intrigue, fascinating characters and an ever-changing face. As it transforms from a smattering of blue-collar fishing and logging towns into a destination resort and retirement mecca, I’ve looked for the threads that bind its story together, during nearly seven years covering the beat from a home office. My contacts in oceanography and conservation are unparalleled here. Last October, I moved into the main office in Eugene after staff cutbacks, and the beat expanded to outlying areas in Lane County, which means more turf for cherry-picking.
THE DAILY BEAST
March 2010 – current | Weird crime writer
This is a self-appointed title — officially, I’m a “contributor” to Tina Brown’s two-year-old IAC-funded venture, which recently merged with Newsweek. But weird crime is generally involved in my pieces for The Beast, which I hope speaks to how well the editors believe I treat these stories. My approach is to find pieces with a strong back story and potential for flushing out the narrative.
NEWSWEEK
April 2003 – current | Oregon stringer
When I first started stringing for Newsweek nine years ago, it was an infrequent gig, one that resulted in a byline once a year, if that. In the year or two before the magazine was sold, I’d become a “regular contributor,” with a story published once or twice a month. It’s been a great opportunity to work for top-level editors who value a different kind of writing style and a rigorous approach to reporting.
THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW | Spokane, Wash.
November ’02 – March ’03 | General assignment reporter
Like Oregon’s coast, North Idaho draws to it a collection of people found nowhere else in the U.S.; people who clash hysterically, stupidly and in myriad other ways that proved fascinating to me as a reporter and to readers. I scoured the five northern counties for the best , writing frequently about environmental issues such as field burning and development.
October ’01 – October ’02 | Education reporter
The schools beat was low on breaking news but high on meaty issue stories.
April ’00 — October ’01 | Social issues reporter
Idaho competes with states such as Mississippi in underfunding its government programs for the mentally ill, disabled and impoverished. Bad news for the afflicted; plenty of material for me.
THE KANSAS CITY STAR | Kansas City, Mo.
Summer ’00 | Intern — general assignment
A good sink-or-swim kind of summer, most of which I spent in the downtown newsroom. After it ended, I stayed on with the Star to work weekend shifts, which I took to mean they couldn’t run the paper without me.
THE ANNISTON STAR | Anniston, Ala.
Summer ’98 | Intern — general assignment
The Star is one of the best small newspapers in the country, and it was a great place to kick off my journalism career. I wrote 90 stories that summer, including a first-person about a Greyhound bus trip.
COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN | Columbia, Mo.
Fall ’99 | Assistant city editor | Spring ’98 | Local government reporter
Spring ’98 | Copy desk editor | Fall ’97 | Education reporter
UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI-COLUMBIA Columbia, Mo.
’95-’99 | Journalism library clerk
Four years navigating databases and Dewey provided a good grounding in research.
FREELANCE WORK Various publications
For Newsweek, I’ve written about cockfighting, a student accused of rape on Facebook, a 2-year-old foster child state officials almost sent to Mexico; a couple of pet deer the state seized, igniting a huge controversy; the rescue of several climbers from Mt. Hood; the death of a soldier from Madras and a standoff involving five children in North Idaho, all of which can be found here. For Time, I assisted coverage of the explosion of the Columbia shuttle. For U.S. News and World Report, I contributed to a commemorative edition on the year anniversary of Sept. 11; For The Daily Beast, I look for eye-popping tales with a strong back story and a potential for flushing out a narrative, and I wrote two 1,000-word features for Boys’ Life.
EDUCATION
University of Missouri-Columbia ’95-’99
Bachelor of Journalism, December ’99 | Minor, German, December ’99
AWARDS/FELLOWSHIPS
2010 Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, first place, general feature, for a story about a troubled Coos Bay teenager who killed his father’s girlfriend.
2008 Society of Business Editors and Writers award, project reporting
2006 Finalist, Livingston Awards, International, for a series on Japan’s tsunami preparedness efforts.
2005 World Affairs fellow, International Center for Journalists (funded the Japan trip).
2005 Pacific Northwest SPJ excellence in journalism competition, environment and energy, third place “Coos County Pipeline.”
2003 Idaho Press Club, first-place awards in education and spot news.
2003 Inland Northwest SPJ, second place, education, for a five-part narrative on summer school.
2002 Idaho Press Club, first place in spot news, serious feature and health.
2001 Idaho Press Club, first place in health.
2001 Casey Journalism fellow, University of Southern California.
1999 James D. Atwater prize, for best writing in the J-School on a piece about a near-fatal backpacking trip in Texas.
1999 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication web design award, for a piece on a local blues club.
1998 Hearst award, for the aforementioned backpacking story.
SKILLS
I know my way around various databases and some computer-assisted reporting programs, along with Excel, iMovie, GarageBand and WordPress. I shoot my own photographs for the newspaper and have a pretty good mound of experience at this point putting together short video skits and slideshows.
REFERENCES
Email me, please. I wouldn’t dare subject my fabulous references to the spammers.
LeslieK said
Small world!
I remember you from the ol’ S-R… and found this link through a Twitter link on a report on Tidbit restaurant….
Sounds like you’ve been busy!
I was writing for the P-I before…. got lots of interesting projects going now.
Take care!
winstonross said
Smaller and smaller, these days. What are you up to now?
Zackery Moore said
How did you end up at the Anniston Star? Interested to know. I’m in Birmingham, Ala. Found you from HARO.
Love the blog!! Especially your “cover letter.”
Judith Pfeffer said
I’m always glad to see a fellow Mizzou J-school grad making good.