BrandonSmith.com

BRANDON SMITH IS A JOURNALIST WHO WRITES ABOUT FOOD, NATURE, AND CULTURE. HE ENJOYS A GOOD INVESTIGATION INTO ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES OR HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES, AND ALSO A GOOD MEAL.

A JUNIOR STUDENT AT COLUMBIA COLLEGE CHICAGO, SMITH MAJORS IN SCIENCE JOURNALISM AND INTERNS WITH ABC 7 CHICAGO’S FOOD REPORTER, STEVE DOLINSKY.

How are you? Glad you’re here.

The site proper has the most up-to-the-minute compilation of my work, but you may not want that. You may want more of a representative sample, to see what I’m capable of. That’s the bulleted list below. Or you may want a formal outline of my experience,  education, skills and awards. If so, see the resume. Feel free to call the cell at 740.505.0038 or e-mail brandoniamsmith -at- gmail -dot- com.

My reporting and writing abilities have a diverse range of applications, such as the following, in alphabetical order:

• Blogging, as you can see. Read back a few months. Never know what you’ll find.

• Commentary and columns. Columns are my first love, which explains why I win awards* for them and still write them for free. Check out my iPad commentary.

• Creative nonfiction. Three of my pieces will soon be available for purchase in The Cedarville Review. Read the first here, the second here, and the third here. (Disclaimer: they’re artsy and not particularly upbeat, but they’re real.)

• Daily coverage of life in a community. I’ve done this for the Washington Court House, Ohio Record-Herald and Wilmington (Ohio) News Journal newspapers. This includes violent and white collar crime, local government and boards of education, the nonprofit sector, and entrepreneurial feature reporting.

• Investigative work, longer-term. Summer 2009 saw published my multi-part series on pollution near Dayton, Ohio, which appeared in five newspapers in four counties. I also applied the story to a TV news report and other multimedia for academic credit.

• Photography and some voice work. I shot the underground dinner Clandestino in December 2009—a 3-hour, 5-course extravaganza by well-regarded Chef Efrain Cuevas. Also see this narrated slideshow about a company whose ideas could translate into lithium-ion batteries with double today’s capacity.

• Satire. Some issues just have to be roasted. I’ve written for local audiences— like this piece about Chicago Mayor Richard Daley’s crooked antics—and national audiences—like this piece sending up pyramid schemes.

• Tweeting until the cows come home. I’m at twitter.com/greenletters. Winter and spring 2010 will be especially promising here because of my mobile journalism class with Huffington Post technocritic Dan Sinker. I’ve live-blogged speeches by Bobby Kennedy, Jr. and Arianna Huffington.

Finally, I’ve made available a selection of clips published summer 2008 in the News Journal. They’re presented first in summary format in case you want to preview them before jumping in.

Still itching for juicy details?

As you would fully expect from a 23-year-old, I’m savvy with tech, social networking, and web/product design.

However, as you would not expect from every 23-year-old, I was a staff writer for daily newspapers for over three years. I’m well-versed in most recent developments in science, tech and the environment. And I’m an award-winning editorial writer*.

*For a piece published in the Washington Court House (Ohio) Record-Herald on my 21st birthday, I won a first place award for editorial writing, over against mainly editors from the 17 daily papers Brown Publishing Company owned at that time.

I frequently train with the professional society Investigative Reporters and Editors. I understand sources have their own agendas; they can’t help it. So I rely as much as possible on raw data or information I retrieve myself, following conversations “on background.”

Some positions require letters of recommendation. My editor at the News Journal, Dan Liggett, wrote a lovely one. What a nice man. As is my closest former colleague at the News Journal, Gary Huffenberger—but not because of his recommendation letter based on my work in 2008. If a third is required, I’ll submit a letter from novelist-professor Gregory Belliveau.

Finally, to be sickeningly transparent, I leave my Facebook page publicly accessible.