Laura Peters

CELL (703) 728-8696 • E-MAIL PETERSLE10@GMAIL.COM • LAURAEPETERS.TUMBLR.COM • TWITTER @peterslaura

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Trending topics reporter Sept. 2012 - now

The News Leader, Staunton, VA NewsLeader.com
Experience
I served Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County as the trending topics reporter covering the local trends in the area for over a
decade. I’ve won dozens of awards in this position throughout the state and country. I’m was one of the highest producing reporters
with a large following of subscribers. On a daily basis, I interacted with the public. It was my job to report what people wanted and
needed to know. From real estate trends, restaurant openings, unemployment woes, business features and more, I was tapped into local
movements in the Shenandoah Valley. I served as a mentor, editor and organizer of the newsroom and other newsrooms within the
company. I worked with social media, live feeds and hosted events for the paper to further the paper's brand. I was also tapped to work
on larger projects with USA TODAY for several years. I was big on experimenting with new technology and different ways to reach
our audience. I’ve tried this in many ways — I started doing columns to accompany my work, like “The buzz,” which takes three
Skills different business news items and summarizes what’s going on for the readers weekly. This model was introduced and implemented at
other papers in the company’s region. I also played an integral part in the paper’s social media and expanded its interaction throughout
● Editing the Valley. Being a small newsroom, I wore several different hats and covered breaking news, education, government and crime. I
● Writing accompanied many of my stories with video and photographs that were shot and edited by me. I also posted on the paper’s social media
● AP Style feeds (Instagram, Facebook and Twitter) as well as my own for newspaper purposes and to show my personality.
● Reporting
● Social Media Education reporter Feb. 2011 – Sept. 2012
● SEO
The Loudoun Times Mirror, Leesburg, VA LoudounTimes.com
● Metrics/
Analytics Within a year, I was promoted from covering towns and villages to the education beat covering all of Loudoun County. I covered
● Excel school board meetings and features within the entire school system — one of the largest in the state. Previously, I covered half of
● Photography Loudoun County on my own. I was in charge of Leesburg and western Loudoun towns and any event or town council meeting or
● Photoshop decision they made. I’ve also contributed to crime coverage, feature writing, video production, photography and investigative
● Organization reporting. Other duties included copy editing and pagination for sections and work on special tabs. With my work with NOVA Exec,
● Scheduling I’ve been a contributing writer and a creative director on photo shoots.
● Multitasking
● Wordpress Contributing writer Dec. 2010 – Feb. 2011
● Video/audio
Patch.com, Leesburg, VA
editing
● Public Moving to Leesburg, I was immediately offered to freelance for Patch.com. I did an average of five articles a week on art, town events,
relations politics, history, features and opinion pieces.
● Web content
Contributing writer May 2010 – Dec. 2010
Chesterfield Observer, Chesterfield, VA

I worked as a freelance writer writing feature articles and news pieces. I wrote two to three articles per week.

News correspondent Dec. 2009 – May 2010

Capital News Service, Richmond, VA

I worked directly at the Capitol in Virginia as a news correspondent for two publications in Richmond, Virginia. I produced radio
pieces for WRIR and wrote articles for the Commonwealth Times and the Culpeper Times.

Board operator/producer/news team Jan. 2009 – Dec. 2010

WRIR, Richmond, VA

As a part of the WRIR News Team, my first assignment was to cover the 2009 Gubernatorial Race in Virginia. I produced the City Hall
Calendar was my internship project that had a direct connection with the City of Richmond. I set up shows that were live on the air,
read public service announcements and underwriting.

Virginia Commonwealth UniversityAug. 2007 – May 2010

Education Richmond, VA - B.S. Mass Communications, Print Journalism 2007-2010