In 2004, I created KentCountyStar as the first online-only news publication in the Grand Rapids, MI area, covering local public affairs and small business news. The original design looked a bit like The Drudge Report and was coded in HTML with the FrontPage editing software. I upgraded to using a template service that was set up for news organizations. However, the design was counterintuitive and the template company charged too much for minor changes, so I shelved the project for awhile. In 2007, I discovered WordPress and revived KentCountyStar. In 2016, I renamed it to metroGRnews to better reflect community identity. The site is offline, but some of my articles can still be found on the InternetArchive.

Mayan Buzz Cafe Celebrates One Year Anniversary – PR piece

Republished in: Between The Lines News
I covered Pride GR in 2011 shortly after graduation and self-published it in KentCountyStar. I also got it published in Between The Lines News, whose editor taught me an important lesson to get an interview with the director of the event. I was focused on interviewing attendees, and a theme developed from the comments of the people I interviewed. The post is now archived, however it can still be found on the Internet Archive, my story is here, and the edited and shorter version on Between the Lines is here.

Skills: Branding, Interviewing, Logo Creation, Media Ethics, Online Publishing, Photography, Researching, Reporting, Social Media Marketing, Tagline, Web Site Publishing, WordPress

Comments are closed, but trackbacks and pingbacks are open.