What I’m Like

Intrepid DIYer. Fumbling fly-fisherman. Americana enthusiast: back-road road trips, divey diners, neon, vintage travel trailers. Stingrays > Mustangs. Donuts. Also, apparently, I collect axes now.

What I’ve Done

I’m a language professional with a strong background in editing, journalism, and higher-ed. For the past several years, I’ve been editing business writing in the financial industry. One of my proudest accomplishments at Morningstar is putting our style guide online.

In print and online, I’ve also worked on most aspects of media production in increasingly responsible roles: writing, editing, designing, wire selection, directing coverage of breaking news. I’ve developed and maintained stylebooks, led copy-editing teams on special projects, and created and managed online content, including social media. I’m comfortable in multiple publishing and content-management systems: Quark, InDesign, WordPress, OnSet, HTML, and the Microsoft Office suite. If I don’t know it, I can learn it. In addition to sharp critical thinking and precision editing, I was well respected for creative and compelling headlines and display copy.

I’ve taught several college and university courses: beginning and intermediate composition, business English, and a 300-level journalism course. I’ve worked with individual writers, most of whom were non-native English speakers, as a writing coach at Mesa Community College. During my teaching career, several of my students’ works were published; I was chosen to lead a freshman orientation roundtable discussion on ethics; and I was a student selection for outstanding teacher.

In Colorado Springs, I helped create Oinkety, a local lifestyle blog that won an editor’s choice award in The Independent‘s annual Best of the Springs edition in 2010. We were picked third by readers.

Education

Where I’ve Worked

Morningstar, Chicago
Standards Editor, 2013-present

  • Before my promotion in 2021, I was a senior copy editor in the Equities division working on financial and investing content for accuracy, grammar, and AP and local style. A few of my notable contributions:
    • I created the website for our style guide—previously, it was print only.
    • Part of the team developing a diversity, equity, and inclusion style guide.
    • Developed our copyright and plagiarism guidelines.
    • Before I arrived, we had no central location for all of our department’s processes and procedures. They were often outdated or missing altogether. I collected them all, and today they are all in a single document that I’m responsible for updating twice a year.
  • Online and in print, we edit in-depth reports — on market trends, sectors, and individual securities — from financial analysts for retail and institutional customers.
  • We post and update online content with a Morningstar proprietary content-management system.
  • We use InDesign, Excel, and Word for our print products.

The Gazette, Colorado Springs
Deputy News Editor, 2006-2012

  • Helped manage a team of about 12 designers and editors who worked on gazette.com and the print edition of the daily newspaper.
  • Led daily budget meetings with newsroom staff to determine front-page content.
  • Posted, updated, and edited local and wire-service content online with OnSet and WordPress content-management systems.
  • Engaged readers and delivered customer service at gazette.com and through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
  • Managed workflow to ensure pages met multiple deadlines.
  • Developed and maintained a local stylebook and enforced usage standards.
  • Designed front and inside pages with InDesign and InCopy software.
  • Edited and proofread news, business and features stories for accuracy, grammar, AP and local style, fairness, consistency, libel, etc. I also wrote headlines, photo captions and other display content as needed.
East Valley Tribune, Phoenix
Copy Chief, 2001-2006
  • Directed and enforced language standards in print and online: determined local style; settled language disputes; maintained the local style guide.
  • I helped manage editing teams on special investigative projects to coordinate workflow.
  • Edited and proofread news and features stories for two zoned editions of the daily newspaper, specifically the front pages.
  • Wrote headlines, photo captions, and other display copy with InDesign software.

Courses I’ve taught

 

When I see a Waffle House, I think of @mike_eiler

Andrew Long, data journalist