About Me.
Hello, my name is Kiersten! I'm a freelance journalist with experience in print, audio, and video reporting. I have covered many topics, including independent music, local businesses, local events, racial and ethnic identity, and pop and Internet culture. I often overlap these subjects with government and politics. When I'm not reporting, I'm reading fiction and poetry, exercising, watching films and sports, or hanging out with my friends!
Education
Emerson College
2019-2022
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Bachelor of Science in Journalism with a minor in Poetry
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GPA: 3.85
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Academic honors: Dean's List (2019-2022)
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Co-curriculars:
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Flawless Brown (woman of color artist collective)
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EBONI (Black student union)
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Emerson Flows (period advocacy organization)
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Experience
Billy Penn/WHYY
2024 - 2025
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Wrote arts and culture articles touching on political topics during election season as an editorial intern
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Pitched story ideas centered on community needs in Philadelphia like traffic safety
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Examined social media from Philadelphians to break news about small businesses
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Penned two articles on Billy Penn’s 2024 Wrapped
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Covered assignments from Billy Penn and other WHYY editors as a freelancer
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Wrote about events centered on community improvement and celebrations
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Penned cut scripts about the Department of Public Health’s condom drive that went on air
The Conversation U.S.
2022 - 2023
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Edited health and science articles by academics as an editorial intern
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Pitched story ideas based on trending topics, such as the spoiled baby myth
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Wrote stories centered on Title IX and college advice
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Crafted Flipboards to highlight expert opinions on Dobbs v. Jackson and other Supreme Court rulings
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Researched partner schools as the University Relations Assistant
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Data entry for the impact of TCUS stories and print republications
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Assisted editorial team with pitch selection
Flawless Writes Magazine
2021 - 2022
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Selected and workshopped submissions with the chair and other contributors
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Wrote and revised poems for the magazine
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Designed pages for written work with Adobe InDesign
HowlRound (Emerson's theater publication)
2021 - 2022
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Crafted daily and weekly newsletters on MailChimp
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Copy-edited essays and daily and weekly newsletters
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Formatted podcast transcripts to match HowlRound's style guide
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Collaborated on social media posts with the communications team
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Assisted editorial team with pitch selection
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Created back-to-school guide for theater educators
WERS (Emerson College radio station)
2019-2021
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Diversified the blog page by writing about Black, female, and/or queer musicians
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Covered Sleater-Kinney and Your Smith concerts
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Launched The Vault of Soul series with my article on Etta James
Politichat
2017
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Submitted op-ed articles remotely
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Covered trending political topics, such as immigration and family separation
