Christen McCurdy

Portland, OR USA
Website: christenmccurdy.net

Professional Experience

I have been working as an editor and reporter for more than 15 years. I currently edit Oregon Business magazine, a quarterly publication that covers business in Oregon and Southwest Washington. I'm comfortable with highly technical beats — past beats have included health care, defense, tech and crime — and with human interest stories. I'm open to supplemental freelance work or to the right full-time opportunity.

Expertise

Editor
10 Years
Writer
15 Years
Fact-Checker
10 Years

Specialty

Business (general)
5 Years
Health
5 Years
Politics
10 Years

Industries


Magazine - Local/Regional magazines
4 Years
Newspaper - Community
6 Years
PR (in-house) - Small to mid-sized corp. clients
1 Year

Total Media Industry Experience

15 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

Narratively (1-2), Know Your City (1-2), Bitch Media (10+), The Lund Report (10+), The Oregonian (10+), Pacific Standard (3-5), RENDER (1-2), Street Roots (1-2), The Fix (1-2), The Portland Mercury (1-2), GoLocalPDX (1-2), Dartmouth Medicine (1-2), Chess Life (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

Microsoft/Compass Rose Media (1-2)

Other Work History

Editor, Oregon Business magazine (2021-present). Defense and breaking news reporter, UPI (2019-2021). News editor, The Skanner (2015-2019). Editorial assistant, Make Up Artist Magazine/Key Publishing Group (2014-2015). Contributing writer, The Lund Report (2009-2014). Public relations representative, Tripwire (2008). Lifestyles editor and general assignment reporter, The Argus Observer (2003-2005). Editorial intern, The Grants Pass Daily Courier (2003) News editor and general assignment reporter, OSU Daily Barometer (1999-2003)

Technical Skills

Photo editing (Adobe PhotoShop, GIMP, PicMonkey) Page design (QuarkXPress, InDesign)

Foreign Language Skills

Basic French Survival Spanish

Computer Skills

Mac OS, Windows XP, Linux (Ubuntu) Word, Excel, OpenOffice/LibreOffice suite WordPress, HTML, Joomla

Equipment

Laptop Digital camera with video capability Digital audio recorder

References

Available upon request.

Awards

Award for Comprehensive Coverage, Society of Professional Journalists General Excellence Award (Argus Observer), Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, 2003 and 2004. Best All-Around Student Daily (Barometer), Society of Professional Journalists, 2001 and 2002. Best Collegiate Daily (Barometer), Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association, 2002. Winner (Barometer editorial board), Society of Professional Journalists' Best Collegiate Editorial Writing Award, OSU Daily Barometer, 2000.

Associations

Association of Health Care Journalists Society of Professional Journalists (Board secretary, Oregon chapter)

Showcase

Comic scripts

Adventures in Feministory: Jessica Mitford
(Bitch Magazine 12/1/2011)
For Bitch's "Underground" issue, I collaborated with illustrator Nicole Cuvin on a one-page biographical comic about Jessica Mitford, author of The American Way of Death.

Journalism

What's It Going to Take to Get You Into the New Female Condom?
(Pacific Standard 9/5/2013)
Here, I discussed the ways FC2 -- the new female condom -- is an improvement on the noisy punchline that preceded it, as well as the reasons it hasn't taken hold like its male counterpart.
A Level Playing Board
(Chess Life 7/1/2013)
Flip forward to page 30 to read my story about the diverse experiences of chess players with disabilities, as well as accessibility issues in the tournament world and the world of chess more generally.
The View From Vista Bridge
(Narratively 11/12/2014)
A reported essay on Portland's Vista Bridge, suicide barriers, Oregon's climbing suicide rate and my experience as a suicide survivor.
Are Gender-Neutral Pronouns Actually Doomed?
(Pacific Standard 10/8/2013)
An exploration of gender neutral pronouns in English, from the perspective of what linguistics research has to tell us about the subject.