AS

Adrienne Samuels Gibbs

Chicago, IL USA
15 Years Experience

Professional Experience

I'm a Pulitzer-nominated reporter, writer and editor who can cover a wide variety of subjects. My best pieces range from breaking news to cultural trend pieces to long-form narratives to short, comedic listicles. I've covered pop culture, finance, hurricanes, immigration, books, movies, fine art, racial issues and government. I'm frequently tapped to write magazine cover stories, and as such I've interviewed and wrangled everyone from Taraji P. Henson to Meryl Streep. I've been a staffer at The Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Ebony, St. Petersburg Times and The Miami Herald. I'm the former, Interim ME of Ebony. I've flown with the Navy Blue Angels, visited with Muammar Gaddafi's top aides (and heard him speak a month before his death) while on a United Nations fellowship, and penned a weekly Sun-Times column on Chicago's cultural scene and, separately, its violence. I love telling the story.

Expertise

Writer 15 YearsEditor 12 YearsSocial Media 5 Years

Specialty

Arts & Humanities 10 YearsEntertainment 11 YearsLifestyle 12 Years

Industries

Magazine - Large Consumer/National magazines 10 YearsNewspaper - National 15 YearsAssociation publication 2 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • NBC News (6-10)
  • Fit Pregnancy (1-2)
  • Takepart.com (3-5)
  • Chicago magazine (3-5)
  • Ebony/Jet (10+)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • Ghostwriting for private author (1-2)
  • Book editing for Howard University's Vera Katz (1-2)
  • National Association of Black Engineers (3-5)

Awards

Pulitzer nomination, 7 NABJ Salute to Excellence awards.

Associations

NABJ, AWJ, JAWS

Other Work History

The Chicago Sun-Times; Ebony magazine; The Boston Globe; The Miami Herald; The St. Petersburg Times (now the Tampa Bay Times; The San Francisco Examiner;

Technical Skills

Vimeo, Audacity, InDesign, InCopy

Foreign Language Skills

Spanish

Computer Skills

Word, Excel, all Mac OS, Wordpress, all social media programs/apps

Equipment

audio recorder, laptop

References

Ask me.

Writing Samples

Will Obama's Library Drive Development on Chicago's South Side?
(Takepart.com 5/20/2015)
The city of Chicago has been in an uproar over the location of the Obama Presidential Library. Some people want it and others don't. I delve into the issue and find out the pros and cons for digging up a public park to make way for a library.

Breaking News

Why We Can't Turn Away from the LaQuan McDonald Video
(NBC News 11/26/2015)
You know that thing that people do when they slow down and watch a car crash? That rubber necking? There's a biological reason for that, and I delve into the whys and why nots in this piece that centers upon repeated public viewing of Chicagoan Laquan McDonald's death at the hands of a cop.

Profile

Floyd Davis Doesn't Run Your Average Woodshop
(Chicago Sun-Times 4/30/2026)
Everyone has been talking about "that guy" who makes stereos out of "old school speakers." I set out to find out who he was and what he was doing. And that's when I found out that Artpentry is a big, artistic deal.

General

Mary Mary cover story
(Ebony 6/1/2013)
I negotiated this cover, negotiated an exclusive and got the magazine on the celeb's accompanying reality show. Then? I wrote the story. All in a day's work. This issue became one of the year's top sellers.
Chiraq: A short history of a catchy name
(Chicago magazine 6/10/2015)
I do a lot of writing on the music scene here in Chicago and happened to notice that King Louie's "Chi-Raq" phrase - something he made up years ago - had finally gone mainstream. Here, I produce a short timeline of the word that's on everybody's lips.