Kimberly Johnson

Greenville, SC USA
Website: http://www.kimberlyjohnson.net
Contact

Professional Experience

A full-time freelancer specializing in national and defense issues, I have reported the spectrum from the battlefields of Iraq and Afghanistan to the halls of the Pentagon and the Capitol. My work has been published in a variety of magazines and websites, including Reader's Digest, US News & World Report, Newsweek.com, GlobalPost, National Geographic News, and Defense Technology International. I have also worked as a stringer for USA Today's foreign desk. I am comfortable tackling a wide variety of assignments, from interviewing a service chief in his Pentagon office, to writing a feature on how families struggle through wrangling medical services for their Autistic children. In more than 10 years as a print reporter, I have written for a variety of platforms including newspapers, magazines and websites. I have a proven track record of delivering copy on time, at times from physically challenging environments.

Expertise

Book Author
2 Years
Editor
5 Years
Reporter
11 Years

Specialty

Environment & Nature
1 Year
War & Conflicts
4 Years
Transportation
5 Years

Industries


Newspaper - National
2 Years
Newsletter - Trade
6 Years
Online/new media
3 Years

Total Media Industry Experience

10 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

Military.com (3-5), National Geographic News (10+), USA Today (6-10), Defense Technology International Magazine (3-5), Newsweek.com (1-2), Washington Post (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

Phoenix Focus Magazine - Univ of Phoenix (3-5), School Nutrition Association (6-10)

Other Work History

I have held staff writing positions at the Marine Corps Times and Aviation Daily.

Technical Skills

Digital photography editing, blogging software (Wordpress, etc)

Foreign Language Skills

Basic Spanish

Computer Skills

Word, Photoshop, Excel

Equipment

Laptop; digital recorder; digital SLR camera; satellite phone; personal protective equipment, including ceramic plate bulletproof vest, ballistic helmet and glasses; basic survival gear such as GPS, water purifier

References

Available upon request

Awards

2006 Joan Cook Award Journalism and Women Symposium; 2005 Vivian Award National Press Club

Associations

Affiliations in recent years have included the National Press Club, Washington, D.C.; The Frontline Club, London; Reporters Without Borders

Showcase

General News

Nuclear Waste Won't Go to Yucca Mountain
(AOL News 3/4/2010)
The Obama administration took further steps this week to kill the controversial high-level radioactive waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain despite the president’s push to expand nuclear power in the U.S. and strong opposition from at least two states.
Geriatric Set Getting It On Later in Life
(AOL News 3/9/2010)
Growing older just might not be so bad after all, according to a new study that finds healthy men and women are having more and better quality sex as they go into their golden years.
Toyota's Problems Could Be Suppliers'
(AOL News 2/17/2010)
They don't make Toyotas. But they make the parts that make Toyotas run. And in cities like Elkhart, Ind., and Orangeburg, S.C., factory workers and other employees could be severely affected by the Japanese automaker's massive recalls of about 8 million passenger vehicles.
Is Carolina Bill About Silver and Gold, or Just More Tea?
(AOL News 2/23/2010)
South Carolina would turn into a cashless state — as in banning all federal currency as legal tender in favor of using silver and gold coins — if one state lawmaker has his way.

Iraq Coverage

Under Fire: Three reporters recount the highs and lows of covering the war
(Washington Post 6/22/2008)
To those who experience it firsthand, the war in Iraq is a fickle master. It can bestow glory, wisdom, adventure, even romance, but more often it wields the power to take. That much is obvious from the latest crop of journalistic memoirs. If there's an "I-went-to-Iraq-now-here's-my-book" threshold, these works vault past it, carried cleanly over on loss of life, limbs and illusions.
Experts confirm Saddam signed execution orders
(USA Today 4/20/2006)
BAGHDAD — Handwriting experts confirmed Saddam Hussein’s signature on documents linking him to a bloody government reprisal on a Shiite village where Saddam’s motorcade was attacked in 1982.
Embattled Iraqi prime minister says he won’t seek second term
(USA Today 4/21/2006)
BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari agreed Thursday to step aside as the nominee for a second term in office, a move that could break a months-long political standoff.
Marines in Iraq undergo refresher in ‘warrior values’
(USA Today 6/19/2006)
HADITHA, Iraq — Marines taking a refresher course in “Core Warrior Values” say they understand the need to go back to basics in response to allegations that fellow Marines killed 24 civilians in November in this town 125 miles northwest of Baghdad.

Environmental Coverage

1600 Eruption Led to Global Cooling, Social Unrest
(National Geographic News 4/29/2008)
A catastrophic volcanic eruption in Peru in 1600 caused short-term cooling that sent societies around the world reeling, new research suggests.
Toxic Dumping in Africa Elicits Calls for Better Controls
(National Geographic News 10/30/2006)
Recent illegal toxic waste dumping in Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast) has led to at least ten deaths and renewed calls from environmentalists for tighter controls over international waste shipments.
Climate Change, Then Humans, Drove Mammoths Extinct
(National Geographic News 4/1/2008)
Ancient climate change cornered the woolly mammoth into a shrinking habitat, but humans delivered the final blow by hunting the species into extinction, a new study suggests.

Defense

Military Parents Battle the System to Help Their Autistic Children
(US News & World Report 12/22/2008)
Karen Driscoll might seem the unlikeliest of lobbyists to cruise the halls of Congress. Indeed, the Marine Corps wife and mother with three young children, one of whom has autism, didn't envision herself hustling down the marbled corridors in a power suit. Yet, on a recent fall day, Driscoll is maneuvering her way like a K Street pro, eager for any opportunity to make her case that the Pentagon's healthcare system is failing active-duty military families with autistic children, families like her own.
More Marines To Afghanistan Possible
(Military.com 4/17/2008)
Marines deployed to Afghanistan this spring will, in part, hold the cards on determining whether more are sent in after them, according to the Corps' top officer.
Marines To Boost Helo Upgrade Program
(Military.com 4/22/2008)
The Marine Corps is bulking up its attack helicopter fleet, increasing by 25 percent the number of helicopters it intends to include in a beleaguered H-1 upgrade program that had for years flirted with cancellation.
Marine Chief Meets With Chinese Counterparts
(Newsweek.com 4/11/2008)
Just back from a visit to China, the head of the U.S. Marine Corps sees opportunity for closer ties between the two nations' armed forces.

International/Foreign Policy

Genocide Prevention for Dummies
(ForeignPolicy.com 4/7/2011)
U.S. President Barack Obama, in his March 28 speech on Libya, justified the international intervention by raising the specter of "a massacre" in the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, which he said "would have reverberated across the region and stained the conscience of the world." It isn't the first time an American president has employed U.S. power to stop senseless killing. But despite the prominent role humanitarian intervention plays in U.S. foreign policy, the United States has never had a blueprint for responding to potential mass atrocities -- until now.