Maya Kroth

San Diego, CA USA
8 Years Experience

Professional Experience

Being in San Diego puts me on the frontier of art, food, music and recreation in Southern California and the burgeoning Baja region. An SPJ and NATJA award-winning writer, I edit Where San Diego magazine and produce the "Maya's Weekend Stuff" radio segment on top alternative station FM 94/9. I also have experience writing and reporting for new media (can you still call it "new," really?), TV/video, and print (books, magazines, newspapers). My outlets include San Diego Union-Tribune, Glamour, San Diego Magazine, Riviera Magazine, SF Weekly, the Stranger (Seattle), Venus Zine, San Diego CityBeat and others. I also co-authored a travel guide for Frommer's ("MTV Road Trips USA"), which was reviewed in The New York Times and AP and won a Grand Prize Award from the North American Travel Journalists Association.

Expertise

Content Editor (online) 3 YearsProducer (new media) 3 YearsWriter 8 Years

Specialty

Entertainment 8 YearsFood 8 YearsTravel 5 Years

Industries

Magazine - Local/Regional magazines 2 YearsNewspaper - Local/Regional 3 YearsOnline/new media 3 Years

Media Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • Glamour (10+)
  • San Diego Magazine (10+)
  • SF Weekly (10+)
  • San Diego Union-Tribune (10+)
  • Riviera Magazine (6-10)
  • Gift Shop Magazine (3-5)
  • Frommer's Travel Guides (1-2)

Corporate Client List (# assignments last 2 yrs)

  • Genotype (3-5)
  • Cinequest Film Festival (10+)

Awards

North American Travel Journalists Assocation (NATJA) Grand Prize: "MTV Road Trips USA" (Frommers), 2007 Society of Professional Journalists San Diego 1st Place, Magazines: Arts/Entertainment Story/Series: "Rock Globally, Think Locally" (San Diego Magazine), Nov. 2007 Best of Show, Online: "Street Scene 2005," (SignOnSanDiego), 2006 1st Place, Multimedia Package: "Street Scene 2005," (SOSD), 2006 2nd Place, Online Arts/Entertainment story/series: "Jeff Bridges-Pictures," (SOSD), 2005 2nd Place, Online Arts Review/Criticism: "Dinner & a Movie: 'Coffee and Cigarettes,'" (SOSD), 2005 San Diego Press Club 1st Place, Blog for/by Journalists: "Liner Notes," (SOSD), 2006 1st Place, Best Overall Entertainment Site: SignOnSanDiego.com, 2006 1st Place, Overall Use of Design: "San Diego Beach Guide," (SOSD), 2005 2nd Place, Integration of Media: “San Diego Goes to South by Southwest," (SOSD), 2006 2nd Place, Web Sites, Feature Story: "Surf San Diego," (SOSD), 2004

Associations

San Diego Press Club Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Chapter San Diego Music Academy Mediabistro

Other Work History

Editor, Where San Diego Magazine Associate Editor (contract), San Diego Magazine Correspondent, KBZT-Radio Maya's Weekend Stuff Correspondent, 91X Radio Music & Recreation Content Producer, SignOnSanDiego.com Arts & entertainment writer, AOL Digital City San Jose

Technical Skills

Photo editing (Photoshop), sound editing (Sound Forge, Audacity, etc.), Flash slideshows (Soundslides), elementary HTML/web design

Foreign Language Skills

Russian, Spanish (conversational in both)

Computer Skills

Windows & Mac, MS Office suite, HTML

Equipment

MacBook, digital camera, DAT recorder

General

Rock Globally, Think Locally
(San Diego Magazine 11/1/2007)
Winner of the SPJ award for best arts/entertainment story in a magazine, this feature offered an insiders' take on San Diego music, including an overview of breakout performers and an inquiry into the obstacles facing the local scene.
The Tides of Time
(San Diego Union-Tribune 12/16/2007)
The lead story of the Union-Tribune's travel section, this feature chronicles the historical charms of Half Moon Bay, a sleepy seaside hamlet facing encroaching development.
What's in store for indie rock and prime time in a post-O.C. universe?
(SF Weekly 10/19/2005)
This San Francisco Weekly music feature satirizes the co-opting of indie-rock culture by mainstream media.
Round Tripper
(San Diego Union-Tribune 9/16/2007)
Front-page Travel section feature followed my trip through six Midwestern ballparks, from Kansas City to Pittsburgh.
The British are Coming? (and other video packages)
(SignOnSanDiego/San Diego Union-Tribune 8/5/2006)
Oversaw a team of 12 content producers (writers, videographers, photographers, editors) and techs to produce live radio and almost-live video coverage of San Diego Street Scene 2006, one of the biggest music festivals in the country. Wrote scripts, interviewed bands, procured additional art/sound/graphics and uploaded it all to the web within hours. Also conducted live internet radio interviews with bands.
The O.C. Effect: Indie Rock Rags and Riches
(The Stranger 11/3/2005)
This straightforward reported feature investigates how much bands actually stand to make by licensing their music to advertisers and television series.