Journalism | Audience Development
My portfolio
Writing | Podcasts | Digital Storytelling | Audience Development | Books
Writing and digital storytelling
Stored Honey
Come along and explore the arts scene of the North in my weekly newsletter. Discover agenda-setting new theatre, thought-provoking art exhibitions, boundary-pushing festivals and much more as we celebrate England's most culturally vibrant region. Find out what's on in Manchester, Liverpool, Yorkshire, Cumbria, the North East and the whole of the North.
Land of the Giants
Weekly podcast review column which ran in up to 12 Reach Plc regional print titles, including the Manchester evening News, Birmingham Mail, Newcastle Chronicle and Liverpool Echo, for more than two years.
Listen Up podcast column
When French street theatre company Royale de Luxe brought their family of giants to Liverpool for the final time, I worked with a designer to create this special report on their three visits to Liverpool. Created using Shorthand.
Special report on The Giants' three visits to Liverpool, created as a Shorthand.
Coastline
The Merseyside coastline is one of the most interesting and diverse in the country, with a history that is known all around the world. This is a celebration of what makes it special today. The stories of the people who live and work on the banks of the River Mersey and the beaches of the Irish Sea. Their passions, experiences and love for this beautiful stretch of windswept land.
I worked with a designer to create this microsite with an interactive map to accompany my podcast Liminal.
24 hours of food in Liverpool
Longform article exploring Liverpool’s relationship with food and drink by capturing an entire night and day in real time.
As well as going out myself, I managed a team of writers who covered the city over 24 hours - from a breastfeeding group to a Chinese restaurant in the early hours of the morning,
No one knew what eccentric relative had done to his home until after he died
Outsider artist Ron Gittins' imaginative creations transformed his otherwise normal looking house.
50 things that happened in Merseyside on VE Day 1945
A snapshot of life in Liverpool and its surrounding towns on that historic day - taken from newspaper archives.
Podcasts
Beatles City
The story of the band that shook the world from the place where it all began.
Interviews include Paul McCartney, Pete Best, The Quarrymen, Giles Martin, Geoff Rhind.
I co-host this podcast with Ellen Kirwin. It was shortlisted for the Publisher Podcast Awards in 2019.
Liminal
Come for a walk along Britain's windswept coastline with the people who have made their lives at the edge. In each episode, I discover a different stretch of landscape, joined by those who make it special. Liminal was also shortlisted for the Publisher Podcast Awards in 2019.
Audience development
In my role of Senior Customer Editor for the North West, I oversaw the audience development strategy in the North West for Reach Plc, including two of the UK's biggest and most influential news sites The Liverpool Echo and the Manchester Evening News. This included introducing new newsletters, managing projects to increase subscriptions, using data to inform the overall strategy and day-to-day operations and improving process. I managed a team of 16 people across four websites, looking after social media, home page management, newsletters and building a loyal audience.
The UK's Favourite Place
Campaign run across Reach's regional and national websites, including the Mirror, Express, Star and OK!, to find the UK's Favourite Place voted by readers, which I managed as Special Projects and Relationships Editor for the organisation's niche websites. This aimed to drive subscriptions to Reach's 2Chill website as well as to the company's What's on newsletters,
TeamDogs' virtual dog show
Virtual dog show for Reach's niche site TeamDogs to build reader registrations and engagement. I project-managed the campaign, which ran across social media as well as on the company's regional and national websites.
Pyjama Party Liverpool
A Liverpool Echo campaign run online, in print and on social media supporting a community group collecting Christmas pyjamas for homeless children. The campaign ran for two years, with 10,000 pairs being donated in the first year.
Light a Christmas Candle
Microsite inviting readers across all Reach sites to remember a loved one by adding a virtual candle to a map of remembrance during Christmas 2022.
Books
Liverpool Central Library
The history of the library in William Brown Street, Liverpool, from its inception in 1850 to its redevelopment and reopening in 2013.
Layers of Liverpool
The Liverpool Map, by Inge Panneels and Jeffrey Sarmiento, is a unique artwork, fusing 16 layers of coloured glass to create a map of Liverpool that is historic, social, geographical, cultural and emotional. This book breaks down those layers, detailing the people and places inspiration and events that have contributed to making Liverpool the place it is today.