HOLLY A. HEYSER 916-278-5612 • [email protected]
EDUCATION
Policy fellow, Humphrey Institute Policy Forum, University of Minnesota, 2002-2003
Bachelor of arts degree in journalism, with honors, California State University, Sacramento, 1988
AREAS OF SPECIALIZATION
Web publication: An innovator in web publication whose guidance has helped propel her campus newspaper’s website to national recognition.
Photography: A self-trained photographer specializing in field-to-plate food photography and close-up nature photography.
Alternative news formats: A leader in pioneering alternative print formats that engage readers and help them understand complex subjects.
Data analysis skills: An evangelist of computer-assisted reporting techniques – using spreadsheets and databases to analyze data and produce outstanding news stories.
Management: A manager experienced in budgeting, planning and marketing for a campus newspaper, a newspaper bureau, a non-profit journalism organization and national conferences. Ended four of the past five fiscal years at the campus newspaper with a surplus in a time of economic downturn and severe budget cuts.
Supporting the craft: Co-founder and past president of a national organization that helps statehouse reporters do their jobs better; board member and treasurer of the California College Media Association.
FORMAL TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Fulltime lecturer of journalism, California State University, Sacramento, appointed August 30, 2006
• Taught Jour197A/B: Journalism Laboratory (The State Hornet), Fall 2006 to present. Class guides students with basic journalism training in every step of production of the campus newspaper, including weekly print edition and daily website. Laboratory format includes weekly critique with detailed written comments for editors and general lecture for students and extensive one-on-one coaching, particularly of editors, who serve as primary coaches for reporters and photographers.
• Taught Jour135: Public Affairs Reporting, Fall 2007-Spring 2008. Class gave students real- life experience in finding interesting ways to cover state government issues. Students had to master team reporting and publish their work online.
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• Taught Jour30: News Writing, Spring 2007 and Spring 2009. Course employed lecture, reading and extensive writing practice in class and on students’ own time to help them master a writing style that differs substantially from what they’ve been taught so far as college students.
Adjunct instructor of journalism, University of Richmond (Richmond, Virginia), Fall 2001
• Taught computer-assisted journalism class – skills and theory on the use of spreadsheets and databases as reporting tools. Required lab work in every class, as well as occasional homework. Graded and returned all work by the next class. Required reporting projects that incorporated data analysis using spreadsheets and/or databases.
OTHER TEACHING EXPERIENCE Media relations training
• Presenter at California State Association of Counties’ “CSAC Institute,” July 2010
• Presenter, CSAC Institute (Sacramento), April 2009 – Taught three-hour course on media relations for elected and professional county officials as part of the California State Association of Counties’ training program.
• Presenter, County of Nevada (September 2009) – Taught three-hour course on media relations for county department heads.
Citizen journalist training – Led 90-minute workshops for citizen journalists at the Sacramento Press, a start-up local news website.
• Journalism 1A workshop, Nov. 18, 2008
• “News Right Under Your Nose” workshop, Dec. 18, 2008
• “News Right Under Your Nose” workshop, Feb. 3, 2009
• “Write that Story!” workshop, April 9, 2009
• “Write that Story!” workshop, May 21, 2009
• Interviewing skills workshop, June 30, 2009
College journalist training
• Associated Collegiate Press
o San Francisco, February 2008 – Led workshops including “Advanced Reporting,” a three-hour seminar; two 30-minute critiques of other college newspapers (Cal Poly Pomona and SUNY Brockport); “From Blah to Bling!,” a 1-hour seminar on
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infographics; and “Oh crap, I turned into my editor,” a 1-hour therapy session for editors of college newspapers.
o Washington, D.C.; August 2008 – Led workshops including “Advanced Reporting,” a three-hour seminar; two 30-minute critiques of other college newspapers; “From Blah to Bling!,” a 1-hour seminar on infographics; and “Oh crap, I turned into my editor,” a 1-hour therapy session for editors of college newspapers.
o San Diego, February 2009 – Led workshops including “Advanced Reporting,” a three-hour seminar; two 30-minute critiques of other college newspapers; “From Blah to Bling!,” a 1-hour seminar on infographics; and “Oh crap, I turned into my editor,” a 1-hour therapy session for editors of college newspapers.
o Minneapolis, July 2009 – Led workshops including “How to Survive Being an Editor without Killing Anyone,” “In-depth Reporting,” “Meet Your Beat” and “Stop Ignoring Data!”
o Phoenix, February 2010 – Led workshops including “How to Survive Being an Editor without Killing Anyone,” “In-depth Reporting” and “Don’t Be a Data Victim.”
o Minneapolis, July 2010 – Led workshops including “Advanced Reporting,” “From Blah to Bling,” “How to Survive Being an Editor without Killing Anyone,” “Meet Your Beat,” “Don’t Be a Data Victim” and “The Whole Enchilada.”
o Hollywood, March 2011 – Led workshops including “Advanced Reporting,” “The Whole Enchilada,” “How to Survive Being an Editor without Killing Anyone” and “Meet Your Beat.”
o Seattle, March 2012 – Led workshops including “Advanced Reporting,” “The Whole Enchilada,” “How to Survive Being an Editor without Killing Anyone” and “Meet Your Beat.”
• Journalism Association of Community Colleges
o Sacramento, March 2007 – Led workshop on using “non-narrative formats” to help make complex information easier for readers to understand.
o Sacramento, March 2009 – Led workshop on survival skills for college newspaper editors.
• California College Media Association
o Sacramento, February 2007 – Led workshop on using “non-narrative formats” to help make complex information easier for readers to understand.
Statehouse journalist training – Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors conferences
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• Philadelphia, August 2007 – Panelist in computer-assisted reporting workshop, delivering “Outstanding Computer-Assisted Reporting … for the Ordinary Reporter” presentation.
• Seattle, August 2005 – Panelist on “The Reporter-Legislator Relationship” session.
• Minneapolis, August 2003 – Conference co-chair, organizing training opportunity for more than 100 statehouse reporters from print, radio and TV. Focused on fundraising and marketing.
• Washington D.C., August 2002 – Conference chair, organizing all aspects – fundraising, marketing, panelist recruiting, facilities and food – of a training opportunity for more than 100 statehouse reporters from print, radio and TV.
Investigative journalist training – Investigative Reporters and Editors conferences
• USC, January 2006 – Presenter at “Elections 2006: Following the money trails,” workshop, leading a session on “Avoiding Pitfalls in Documents and Data” and MS Access database training.
• USC, April 2005 – Presenter at “Going Beyond the Agenda: Investigating Local Government” workshop, participating in a [panel on “Knowing how it’s supposed to work: Using regulations, permits, inspections and lawsuits to find out what’s happening inside government” and “Using FOI and Open Records: How to file early and often to get the records before you need them.”
• Sacramento State, February 2005 – Presenter at Better Watchdog Workshop, leading a session on “Covering state government” and assisting in MS Access database training.
• Washington D.C., June 2003 – Presenter at national conference, participating in a panel on statehouse investigations.
• San Francisco, May 2002 – Presenter in national conference, participating in a panel on statehouse investigations.
• Philadelphia, March 2002 – Presenter at IRE’s National Institute for Computer-Assisted Reporting national conference, participating in a panel on “Digging for Stories in the Statehouse.” NEWSPAPER EXPERIENCE
Faculty adviser, The State Hornet, California State University, Sacramento, September 2006 to present Serve as general manager for 12,000-circulation weekly newspaper and 24/7 news website with a $335,000 annual budget.
State editor, The Orange County Register (Santa Ana, Calif.), July 2004 to August 2006 Supervised three reporters and an intern who covered state government. Managed team budget. Taught computer-assisted reporting skills. Designed and built Web presentations for
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team stories. Coordinated design-intensive coverage (staff and wire) for print Region/State page. Coordinated voter guides.
State government editor, The St. Paul Pioneer Press (St. Paul, Minn.), February 2002-June 2004 Supervised five to eight reporters. Coordinated election coverage and voter guides. Staff included statehouse, Washington, D.C. and transportation reporters; three interns each fall and an assistant.
State government reporter, The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, Va.), July 1997-February 2002 Covered General Assembly (state legislature) and state government, with an emphasis on state budget, health care policy, mental health and horse racing.
Reporter, The San Jose Mercury News (San Jose, Calif.), March 1993-July 1997 Covered local governments. Wrote 1996 “Listening Post” column on how the presidential election related to ordinary people.
Reporter, metro editor, The Peninsula Times Tribune (Palo Alto, Calif.), March 1990-March 1993 Covered local government, local schools. Became metro editor, supervising reporters and editors.
Reporter, Sacramento Bee Neighbors (Sacramento, Calif.), January 1988-December 1989 Covered Sacramento county communities of Rancho Cordova, Arden area, Carmichael, Fair Oaks, Orangevale and Folsom.
News editor, The State Hornet (California State University, Sacramento), Fall 1985 and Spring 1986 Assigned and edited news stories for campus newspaper. Wrote editorials.
Reporter, The State Hornet (California State University, Sacramento), Fall 1984 and Spring 1985 Covered campus police beat. Wrote features. Published three-part series on toxic waste.
OTHER JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE
Blogger, NorCal Cazadora, a blog about hunting featuring hunting stories, gear reviews and commentary (www.norcalcazadora.com), 2007 to 2012
Photographer, The Wild Right Under Your Nose nature photography (heyserphoto.smugmug.com), 2011 to present
Freelance writer and photographer, 2007 to present
About.com • Regular photo contributor to fish and seafood cooking site through May 2009
The Art of Eating • Photos, "The Lost Fishery: Shad in California," Spring 2010 • Photos, "Duck Hunt: In Search of California's Perfect Wild Waterfowl," Winter 2009 • Photos, "Foraging for Clams on Block Island," Issue No. 78, Summer 2008
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California Waterfowl Magazine • Photos, "Banding Together," November/December 2009 • Story and photo, "Losing your bird," May/June 2009 • Story, "The Whole Duck," November/December 2008 • Story and photos, "Annie Get Your Gun (Fitted)," September/October 2008 • Story, "The Wild Game Diet," May/June 2008 • Story and photos, "Walking the WOC," May/June 2008
Capital Press • Photos, “ ‘Magic’ blue-footed chicken makes the grade,” August 12, 2008
Delta Waterfowl Magazine • Photo, “Camp Chef: Cooking Your Goose,” Winter 2011 • Photo, “Q&A: A Few Words with Hank Shaw, Author of ‘Hunt, Gather, Cook,’” Summer 2011 • Photos, "Comfort Food: After a day in the duck blind, what's better than a bowl of homemade duck soup?" Winter 2010 • Essay, "Why do we hunt?" Winter 2009 • Photos, "Tips for Grilling Ducks," Summer 2009 • Audio slideshow, "Flattening a Duck for the Grill," Summer 2009 Web Xtras
Edible Rhody • Photos, "Sun Farm Oysters: An Alternative Approach to Aquafarming on Block Island," Summer 2008
Edible Sacramento • Photos, "Profit and Pastry: The Role of the Pastry Chef in a Down Economy," Spring 2010 • Photos, "Goat goes haute," Spring 2009 • Photos, "Searching for sustainable beef," Winter 2009 • Photos, “Comfort food,” Winter 2009 • Photos, "Farm to cocktail," Fall 2008 • Photos, "Kind of blue: Modesto's Champion Chicken," Fall 2008 • Photo, “Fishing for Memory,” Summer 2008 • Photos, "Sausage: A Love Supreme," Spring 2008
Gastronomica • Photos, "Chasing Angels: The Sweet Wine Angelica," Summer 2008
Gilt Taste • Photos, "Thrill of the Mushroom Hunt," May 2011
Gourmet Live • Photos, “Bringing Home the Bacon – with a Rifle,” September 2011 (link to story)
Hunter Angler Gardener Cook (www.honest-food.net) • Regular photo contributor
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Meatpaper • Photo, "The Forgotten Prey: Reviving a taste for the squirrel hunt," Summer 2008
Organic Gardening • Photo, "Call of the Wild (Greens)," February/March 2011
Pheasants Forever • Photos, “Pheasant Home Cooking,” Winter 2012
Sacramento Bee • Op-ed, "Viewpoint: Some grim but timely truths about hunting," April 15, 2012 • Story and photo, "Cal Expo Dog Show to prove it's a canine's world," April 5, 2012 • Story, "Biathlon -- the challenge of combining two opposite sports," March 22, 2012 • Story, “Ron White: Black suit, blue collar,” Sept. 16, 2011 • Story, "Author Thomas McGuane lopes into Sacramento this week," Nov. 1, 2010 • Story, “Loomis’ Jamie Susslin a natural as host of ‘Ultimate Sportsman,’” Oct. 14, 2010 • Story, "Foresthill warden a natural at enforcing fish and game laws," June17, 2010 • Story, "Wild pigs rough on land - fun to hunt," April 2010 • Story, "In the field, humans and dogs enjoy a 20,000-year collaboration," September 2009 • Story and charts, "Sac Valley is good for the goose and good for the goose hunter," September 2009 • Chart, "Hunting - a briefing," September 2009 • Story and photo, "Hunters love doves for their first feast of fall," September 2009 • Story and photos, "Fish on," August 2009 • Story, "Let's talk turkey," March 2009
San Jose Mercury News • Op-ed, "Guns, ammo and Google," Feb. 7, 2012
Shotgun Life columnist • “I’m Not a Gun Nut, So How Did I Get All These Guns?,” Aug. 1, 2011 • “Could Anything Go More Wrong on a First Dove Hunt?,” Aug. 27, 2011 • “Why Skeet Bugs Me. Or Not?,” Oct. 1, 2011 • “The First Shot of Duck Season,” Oct. 31, 2011 • “The (Unwelcome) Return of Duck Hunting Mediocrity,” Nov. 30, 2011 • “My Kind of Perfect Day with a Shotgun,” Dec. 29, 2011 • “Shotgun Wedding(s),” Feb. 1, 2012 • “The Last Shot at Duck Season, March 1, 2012
Turkey Country • Story and photo, "Lead Astray: The debate surrounding lead ammunition bans remains vigorous," November/December 2009
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ProStaff member (writer/reviewer) of Jesse’s Hunting & Outdoors, an online hunting journal and forum at www.jesseshunting.com, December 2007 through October 2009 • “Take Great Hunting Photos with Any Camera,” June 19, 2008 • “Talking to an NRA Outcast about Guns, Government, and Politics,” July 17, 2008 • “Trying out New Irish Setter Ladyhawk Boots,” Oct. 9, 2008 • “JHO Interview – Sierra Sportsmen Organizer, Jon Schwedler,” Oct. 9, 2008
OTHER EXPERIENCE
Member, public relations advisory group, California Waterfowl Association (2008 to 2010)
Committee member, Women’s Outdoor Connections initiative, California Waterfowl Association (February 2008 to 2010)
Co-founder and past president, the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors (Capitolbeat)
BOOKS
Photographer, “Hunt, Gather, Cook: Finding the Forgotten Feast,” Rodale 2011
Contributing author, “A Guide to Statehouse Reporting,” a project of the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors and The National Press Foundation, 2005
Contributing author, “Midterm Madness: The Elections of 2002,” edited by Larry J. Sabato, published by Rowman & Littlefield, 2003
HONORS
Newspaper I advise/manage
• Statehornet.com – the online newspaper produced by JOUR 197A/B students – was named one of the top seven (No. 4) “Best of the Best” student newspaper websites by the journalism/technology blog, 10,000 Words (www.10000words.net). It was also ranked in the top ten (No. 5) for multimedia/social networking.
• Statehornet.com – the online newspaper produced by JOUR 197A/B students – was awarded a national 2008 Online Pacemaker from Associated Collegiate Press in the four-year university, non-daily newspaper category. The Hornet was one of five Pacemaker recipients in this category.
• The State Hornet received second place for Sports Page Design, weekly newspaper category, in the California College Media Association statewide competition, Feb. 28, 2009
• The State Hornet received second place for Best of Show, weekly newspaper category, in the national on-site competition of Associated Collegiate Press at its national convention in San Diego, March 1, 2009.
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• The State Hornet received Best of Show, first place, in the non-daily newspaper/four-year university category in the national on-site competition of the Associated Collegiate Press at its national convention in Minneapolis, Minn., July 23-26, 2009.
• State Hornet Editor in Chief Todd Wilson received first place for opinion writing in the Capitolbeat national statehouse reporting contest, Aug. 22, 2009
• The State Hornet received Best of Show, first place for multimedia package, in the non-daily newspaper/four-year university category in the national on-site competition of the Associated Collegiate Press at its national convention in Austin, Texas, Oct. 31, 2009.
• Statehornet.com – the online newspaper produced by JOUR 197A/B students – was awarded a national 2009 Online Pacemaker from Associated Collegiate Press in the four-year university, non-daily newspaper category. The Hornet was one of ten Pacemaker recipients in this category.
• The State Hornet received second place Best of Show for its website in the large school category, and eighth place Best of Show for general excellence in the four-year weekly newspaper category in the national on-site competition of the Associated Collegiate Press at its national convention in Phoenix, Ariz., Feb. 28, 2010.
• The State Hornet placed in the California College Media Association 2009 competition in the categories of best news (non-breaking), best feature photo and best breaking news online. Actual award details will be announced April 17, 2010.
• Hornet senior staff writer won “Story of the Month” from Investigative Reporters and Editors’ Campus Coverage Project for his Feb. 23, 2011 article, “Student activity fees one-third of CSUS athletics revenue.”
• The State Hornet won 9th place for Fall 2011 Issue 8 in the Associated Collegiate Press “Best of Show” contest at its Fall 2011 conference in Orlando Florida.
• The State Hornet won fifth place for best website (school enrollment over 10,000) and fifth place for best weekly newspaper (four-year university) for Spring Issue 5 in the “Best of Show” contest at the Associated Collegiate Press Mid-Winter Convention in Seattle, March 4, 2012.
• The State Hornet placed second for best news story in a weekly newspaper in the California College Media Association’s 2011 contest on April 21, 2012.
Newspaper reporting team I supervised • Three awards – one for each reporter on my team – in the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors national statehouse reporting awards, 2005 • Second place continuing news coverage for 2003 legislative coverage, Minnesota Associated Press Association, 2004
Reporting team award: First place general news writing for 2000 election coverage, Virginia Press Association, 2001
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Personal • First place national, college editorial writing, Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence, 1986 • President’s Scholar, California State University, Sacramento, 1983 • Valedictorian, Nevada Union High School (Grass Valley, California), 1983
MEMBERSHIPS
College Media Advisers Associated Collegiate Press California College Media Association (treasurer) California Outdoor Writers Association Capitolbeat – the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors Investigative Reporters and Editors Society of Professional Journalists Women’s Outdoor Media Association
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