Shannon Russell
PROFILE
· Award-winning journalist
· Versatile writer skilled at storytelling, marketing and social media content
· Experienced creator of multimedia content across digital platforms
· Innovative communicator skilled in interviewing and source-building
· Resourceful professional focused on creative problem-solving
· Expert information processor adept at beating tight deadlines
WORK EXPERIENCE
TOTAL QUALITY LOGISTICS, 2022-present
Senior Copywriter. Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to tell the TQL story clearly and concisely on print and digital platforms, from press releases and social media content to emails and scripts. Marketing specialist, writer, editor, proofreader, problem solver.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, 2021-2022
Interim Director of Athletic Communications. Responsible for creating and conveying information about Norse men's basketball, softball and golf, from game notes to press releases, as well as bigger picture stories like coaching and athletic staffing changes. Engaged with fans through social media posts.
LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL, 2020-2021
Sports reporter. Covered U of L men's basketball, from navigating a year in the pandemic to covering basketball and the judicial system. Won an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award for long feature writing on a profile of Carlik Jones.
THE ATHLETIC, 2018-2020
Sports reporter. Covered Xavier basketball primarily and also helped with other Cincinnati sports beats during t e offseason. Scoured the XU beat for features, enterprise and analysis. Strategic storyteller.
FREELANCE WRITER, 2016-2018
Sports reporter. Pitched and wrote content for WCPO.com. Also wrote for the Associated Press, The Sports Xchange and Cox Media Group. Executed multiple projects, including college basketball NCAA tournament breakdowns for ESPN.com and feature stories for Xavier Nation magazine.
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2001-2016
Sports reporter. Beat writer for Xavier University men’s basketball and the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament. Reported news and wrote features, profiles and enterprise stories from my two main beats while keeping readers informed via multiple platforms in order to propel the newspaper’s digital evolution.
THE CLERMONT SUN, 1999-2001
Sports reporter. Covered sports at nine high schools in Clermont County for the weekly newspaper. Wrote game stories, features, enterprise and a column, took photos and designed the section. Won Ohio Newspaper Association awards for Best Sports Section (2000 first place, 2001 second place).
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
* APSE Top 10 winner, Long Feature Writing, for story on Louisville guard Carlik Jones (2020).
* United States Tennis Association’s Fred Burns Award winner for W&S Open tennis coverage (2013).
* Ohio Associated Press Sports Editors, third place for Best Sports Feature Writer (2012).
* Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 winner, Breaking News, coverage of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout brawl at the end of the Xavier/Cincinnati men’s basketball game at Cintas Center (2011).
* APSE Top 10 winner, Explanatory, “The Agony of the Blowout,” an in-depth enterprise package about lopsided games in Cincinnati high school girls basketball (2003).
* Ohio Associated Press Media Editors, Best Sports Feature Writer, third place (2012).
* Gannett Well Done award for “The Cost to Compete,” a three-part series detailing the rising costs of high school sports and the disparity on the playing field (2005).
* Kentucky Press Association, Best Sports Story, first place (“A Remarkable Tale of Determination,” a story about a jockey who rebounded from a horrendous racing accident to compete again, 2007).
* KPA, Best Enterprise (“The Cost to Compete,” 2006), Best Sports Feature (“Hopes Salvaged, Hopes Lost,” recapping Kentucky’s men’s basketball team’s controversial double-overtime tournament loss to Michigan State in the NCAA tournament, 2005).
* KPA, Best Sports Feature, second place (“The Floor is All Hers,” profiling Xavier women’s basketball player Tara Boothe and her climb into program record books, 2006).
* Cleveland Press Club’s Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards (“The Cost to Compete,” 2005). Ohio SPJ’s Best Coverage of Children’s Issues (“The Cost to Compete,” 2005).
* Ohio SPJ, Sports Feature, third place (“A Remarkable Tale of Determination,” 2007).
* KPA, Best Sports Feature, third place (“It’s About Control,” featuring an epileptic high school baseball player, 2006). Best Sports Story, third place (“Bluebirds prevail on penalty kick,” a game story documenting Highlands High School’s state soccer championship win, 2006).
* Eclipse Awards, honorable mention, (“A Remarkable Tale of Determination,” 2007).
*Ohio Newspaper Association, Sports Section (first place) at The Clermont Sun, 2001, and Sports Section (second place), 2002.
EDUCATION
Miami University, Oxford, OH
BA Journalism, BA Creative Writing
Thematic Sequence: Art
Departmental honors: Creative Writing
Graduated Cum Laude in 1998
· Award-winning journalist
· Versatile writer skilled at storytelling, marketing and social media content
· Experienced creator of multimedia content across digital platforms
· Innovative communicator skilled in interviewing and source-building
· Resourceful professional focused on creative problem-solving
· Expert information processor adept at beating tight deadlines
WORK EXPERIENCE
TOTAL QUALITY LOGISTICS, 2022-present
Senior Copywriter. Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to tell the TQL story clearly and concisely on print and digital platforms, from press releases and social media content to emails and scripts. Marketing specialist, writer, editor, proofreader, problem solver.
NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNIVERSITY, 2021-2022
Interim Director of Athletic Communications. Responsible for creating and conveying information about Norse men's basketball, softball and golf, from game notes to press releases, as well as bigger picture stories like coaching and athletic staffing changes. Engaged with fans through social media posts.
LOUISVILLE COURIER JOURNAL, 2020-2021
Sports reporter. Covered U of L men's basketball, from navigating a year in the pandemic to covering basketball and the judicial system. Won an Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 award for long feature writing on a profile of Carlik Jones.
THE ATHLETIC, 2018-2020
Sports reporter. Covered Xavier basketball primarily and also helped with other Cincinnati sports beats during t e offseason. Scoured the XU beat for features, enterprise and analysis. Strategic storyteller.
FREELANCE WRITER, 2016-2018
Sports reporter. Pitched and wrote content for WCPO.com. Also wrote for the Associated Press, The Sports Xchange and Cox Media Group. Executed multiple projects, including college basketball NCAA tournament breakdowns for ESPN.com and feature stories for Xavier Nation magazine.
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER, 2001-2016
Sports reporter. Beat writer for Xavier University men’s basketball and the Western & Southern Open tennis tournament. Reported news and wrote features, profiles and enterprise stories from my two main beats while keeping readers informed via multiple platforms in order to propel the newspaper’s digital evolution.
THE CLERMONT SUN, 1999-2001
Sports reporter. Covered sports at nine high schools in Clermont County for the weekly newspaper. Wrote game stories, features, enterprise and a column, took photos and designed the section. Won Ohio Newspaper Association awards for Best Sports Section (2000 first place, 2001 second place).
AWARDS & RECOGNITION
* APSE Top 10 winner, Long Feature Writing, for story on Louisville guard Carlik Jones (2020).
* United States Tennis Association’s Fred Burns Award winner for W&S Open tennis coverage (2013).
* Ohio Associated Press Sports Editors, third place for Best Sports Feature Writer (2012).
* Associated Press Sports Editors Top 10 winner, Breaking News, coverage of the Skyline Chili Crosstown Shootout brawl at the end of the Xavier/Cincinnati men’s basketball game at Cintas Center (2011).
* APSE Top 10 winner, Explanatory, “The Agony of the Blowout,” an in-depth enterprise package about lopsided games in Cincinnati high school girls basketball (2003).
* Ohio Associated Press Media Editors, Best Sports Feature Writer, third place (2012).
* Gannett Well Done award for “The Cost to Compete,” a three-part series detailing the rising costs of high school sports and the disparity on the playing field (2005).
* Kentucky Press Association, Best Sports Story, first place (“A Remarkable Tale of Determination,” a story about a jockey who rebounded from a horrendous racing accident to compete again, 2007).
* KPA, Best Enterprise (“The Cost to Compete,” 2006), Best Sports Feature (“Hopes Salvaged, Hopes Lost,” recapping Kentucky’s men’s basketball team’s controversial double-overtime tournament loss to Michigan State in the NCAA tournament, 2005).
* KPA, Best Sports Feature, second place (“The Floor is All Hers,” profiling Xavier women’s basketball player Tara Boothe and her climb into program record books, 2006).
* Cleveland Press Club’s Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards (“The Cost to Compete,” 2005). Ohio SPJ’s Best Coverage of Children’s Issues (“The Cost to Compete,” 2005).
* Ohio SPJ, Sports Feature, third place (“A Remarkable Tale of Determination,” 2007).
* KPA, Best Sports Feature, third place (“It’s About Control,” featuring an epileptic high school baseball player, 2006). Best Sports Story, third place (“Bluebirds prevail on penalty kick,” a game story documenting Highlands High School’s state soccer championship win, 2006).
* Eclipse Awards, honorable mention, (“A Remarkable Tale of Determination,” 2007).
*Ohio Newspaper Association, Sports Section (first place) at The Clermont Sun, 2001, and Sports Section (second place), 2002.
EDUCATION
Miami University, Oxford, OH
BA Journalism, BA Creative Writing
Thematic Sequence: Art
Departmental honors: Creative Writing
Graduated Cum Laude in 1998
