JOANNA FANTOZZI
Contact: fantozz2@gmail.com
EXPERIENCE
INSIDER, Insider Inc. (Formerly known as Business Insider), New York, NY June 2017- February 2018
Food and Lifestyle Reporter
- Pitched and wrote trending food, health, and entertainment news that promoted INSIDER’s editorial motto, “Life is an adventure”
- Pitched, researched, and wrote long form stories, such as an investigative piece on a bogus home food allergy test, and a feature on Italy’s gelato university
- Sourced photos for slideshows, such as a feature that debunked the worst “healthy” celebrity diets with nutritionist interviews
- Interviewed celebrities for feature stories (e.g., Sarah Michelle Gellar and Guy Fieri)
- Built INSIDER’s audience engagement and social media presence using Buffer
- Syndicated stories to content partners like MSN
The Daily Meal, New York, NY Jan. 2014 – June 2017
News Editor
- Reported on breaking and headline food and drink news
- Wrote and edited 2,000+ stories on restaurants, chefs, diets, and trends
- Interviewed chefs for feature stories (e.g., Anthony Bourdain and Tom Colicchio)
- Several stories broke The Daily Meal’s social media records, went viral and many were syndicated by Fox and Huffington Post
- Built and maintained social media presence
Straus Media, New York, NY 2011 – 2013
Reporter (Promoted from freelance writer)
- Wrote local news stories highlighting community issues, politics, and events on the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and Lower Manhattan for The West Side Spirit, Our Town and Our Town Downtown
New York Daily News, New York, NY 2012 – 2013
Freelance Writer (Promoted from intern), Features Desk
- Pitched and wrote stories for the Best of New York, food, movie, TV, and web sections; substitute editor for the Eats section
Other Freelance
- The New York Times – wrote a business profile for the style section on a company that designs clothing for clergy members
- Condé Nast Traveler – wrote roundups of the best burgers in America and a profile on a pizza-maker in Amish Country
- Time Out New York – wrote roundups for Time Out New York Kids on local businesses
- The Village Voice – wrote a profile on a local Brooklyn metalworker/artist
- New York Observer – wrote a travel piece on luxury vacation destinations in the New York metropolitan area
- Narratively – wrote long form stories: one on New York’s oldest magic shop, and the other on a Long Island Gold Coast mansion
The Celebrity Cafe.com, New York, NY 2010 – 2012
Junior Editor (Promoted from intern)
- Copyedited intern work for grammar and other errors
- Wrote and aggregated news briefs
- Interviewed celebrities; and wrote movie, TV, and music reviews
The Massapequa Post, Massapequa, NY 2006 – 2010
Reporter (Promoted from intern)
- Wrote features and obituaries; covered town meetings and news conferences; copy edited and organized layout
EDUCATION
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism - Arts and Culture Concentration, M.A. 2012
The College of New Jersey, Ewing, NJ, B.A. 2011
- English major, creative writing minor, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Phi Kappa Phi
SKILLS AND LEADERSHIP ROLES
- Served on the judging panel for the Society for Professional Journalists Deadline Club Awards 2015
- Mentored high school journalism students during Vice’s NewsHive 2015
Technical proficiencies:
- Search Engine Optimization
- Social media engagement and outreach (Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, and LinkedIn)
- DSLR camera operation; Photo editing in Photoshop and Pixlr
- Website creation and maintenance using WordPress and Drupal CMS, and HTML knowledge