Michael S. Jennings

Resume:

Michael S. Jennings
P.O. Box 6027
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
Cell 502-409-2991 (preferred)
Work 218-262-1014
E-Mail jennings.michael@insightbb.com

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a position as an editor or reporter for a newspaper, newsletter or magazine or as a communications officer for a government agency or university.

EMPLOYMENT

November 2007 to present
Editor
The Hibbing Daily Tribune
Writing, editing, planning and news staff supervision staff for a small daily newspaper in northern Minnesota.

August 2006 to November 2007
Evaluation Specialist
Eastern Kentucky University
Data analysis, writing research reports and related projects for the Kentucky Department for Community Based Services.

June 2006 to August 2006
Contract grant writer
Strategic Funding Group, Lexington, Kentucky
Writing grant proposals for nonprofit human services organizations.

June 2004 to February 2006
Associate editor/projects
The Sunday Challenger, Covington, Kentucky
I planned, coordinated and helped write investigative and other extensive projects for our newspaper. Together with another staff member, I also planned and produced a weekly section-front story for our “community vision” section. Occasionally, I wrote for our opinion pages. The paper has folded. Our last issue appeared in February 2006.

January 2004 to June 2004
Communications officer and member of contract drafting team
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Frankfort,Kentucky
The new state administration combined my former cabinet with a separate cabinet. I was assigned new duties in the new cabinet.

October 1999 to January 2004
Communications Director
The Kentucky Cabinet for Families and Children, Frankfort, Kentucky
The office I directed conducted press relations and other external and internal communications functions for a state human services agency with 6,000 employees statewide. My staff responded to inquiries from the press and public, issued news releases, published two on-line newsletters, managed the content and design of the cabinet’s web page and intranet, conducted public information campaigns, worked with contractors to produce audio news releases and videos on cabinet programs, wrote material for speeches and op-ed pieces for the cabinet secretary and arranged press conferences, interviews and meetings with editorial boards for the secretary and other cabinet officials. The office I headed included six other full-time employees, one part-time co-op student and, at intervals, an intern.

June 1989 to October 1999
Reporter
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky
Beats: State-level education and legislative (1989-92); local school district (1992-93); local courts (1993-95); higher education (1995-1999); K-12 and higher education (1999).

July 1984 to October 1988
Reporter
The Birmingham News, Birmingham, Alabama
Beats: Local school districts (1984-85); state educational systems, environmental affairs and state health department (1985-88).

August 1982 to May 1984
Graduate tutor in English
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Taught two sections per semester of English composition or introduction to the short story.

August 1981 to May 1982
Lecturer in English
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Taught four sections per semester of English composition. Also taught in the university’s English as a second language program during the summer of 1983.

August 1979 to June 1981
English language instructor
Center for European languages, Riyadh University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Taught English reading skills appropriate to the academic disciplines of beginning, Arabic-speaking university students whose intended majors were sociology or mass communications. Also coordinated testing for the mass communications students in 1980-81.

January 1979 to May 1979
Creative writing instructor
The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Taught one section of creative writing.

November 1974 to May 1978
Reporter
The Daily Press, Williamsburg, Virginia
Beats: Colonial Williamsburg, local courts, the National Center for State Courts, two rural counties.

November 1973 to July 1974
Reporter
The Daily Record, Hickory, North Carolina
Beats: Police and local schools.

June 1969 to June 1973
Staff Sergeant (final rank)
U.S. Air Force, Vietnam and Germany
Taught English to Vietnamese pilot and mechanic trainees in Saigon and Nha Trang (1969-70); edited and transmitted photographic intelligence reports in Schierstein, West Germany (1971-73).

EDUCATION

Doctoral student in English, June 1982-May 1984; did not earn degree.
Duke University, Durham, North Carolina
Completed most course work for a doctorate in English with a specialty in modern American literature.

May 1978
Master of Arts in English
The University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Completed all course work required for a standard master’s degree in English but submitted a work of fiction as a thesis.

January 1969
Bachelor of Arts in psychology
The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

HONORS AND AWARDS

First place, best general news story, and first, second and third place, best ongoing/extended coverage, Kentucky Press Association, associate newspapers division, 2007. Also, third place for best editorial and third place for best investigative story or series. The general news story and editorial awards were won as solo efforts. I led teams that won two of the other awards and was a team member of groups that won the remaining two.

First place, best investigative story or series, and first and third place, best enterprise/analytical story, Kentucky Press Association, associate newspapers division, 2006 I planned, supervised and served as the principal writer for the multi-story projects that won these prizes in the KPA annual competition. The investigative project dealt with school suspensions. The first-prize investigative/analytical project, entitled “Faces of Need,” focused on our region’s homeless and impoverished people and the extent to which their needs are, or are not, being met. The third-prize series dealt with the effects of federal Title IX legislation on women’s participation in collegiate sports in Kentucky.

Second place, best investigative story or series, Kentucky Press Association, associate newspapers division, 2005 I planned, supervised and was the principal writer for the project that won this prize. It dealt with hate crimes in our region.

Best of Gannett, third place, in-depth reporting, 1997 For a package entitled “Grading High Schools: Not all diplomas created equal,” co-written with fellow reporter Veda Morgan. Using data compiled by the Kentucky Council on Higher Education, we showed that some high schools in our local school district were breeding grounds of college failure, and that district policies were a direct cause.

American Society of Newspaper Editors, first prize for non-deadline writing, 1993 Awarded for a series of stories on my search for my natural father.

Education Writers Association, special citation, 1988 For work done jointly with fellow Birmingham News reporter Sam Duvall. We exposed the head of Alabama’s two-year college system for having lied about his credentials. He was forced to resign as a result of our work.

The N Award, 1988 Award given annually by The Birmingham News for outstanding work by its news employees.

REFERENCES

Viola P. Miller, commissioner, Tennessee Department of Children’s Services, Cordell Hull Building, 7th Floor, Nashville, TN 37243-0290. Phone: 615-741-9699 (office).
E-mail: viola.miller@state.tn.us

Donald Then, former publisher of The Sunday Challenger, 2089 Woodsedge Court, Hebron, KY 41048. Phone: 859-586-0452.
E-mail: dthen@fuse.net

Tom Mitsoff, web editor, the Tyler, Texas, Morning Telegraph (and former editor of The Sunday Challenger). Phone: 903-245-6373 (mobile); 903-596-6341 (office).
E-mail: tmitsoff@hotmail.com

Mark Provano, regional editor, The Courier-Journal, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, KY 40201. Phone: 502-582-4252 (office).
E-mail: mprovano@courier-journal.com

David Hawpe, editorial director, The Courier-Journal, 525 W. Broadway, Louisville, KY 40201. Phone: 502-582-4613 (office).
E-mail: dhawpe@courier-journal.com