Audience Work
Case studies in newsletter strategy, platform distribution and audience growth at Block Club Chicago and The DePaulia.
Newsletter Production
- Write and edit web-ready newsletter copy, packaging stories from reporters for digital-first audiences
- Develop subject lines engineered to drive open rates above the 20–25% industry average, including A/B testing
- Shape story framing, hierarchy and sequencing — deciding what leads, what gets a callout and what context a reader needs
- Create custom design for large features
- Write original stories: service pieces, arts coverage, community features, civic news
Email campaigns I curated and designed for Block Club Chicago.
WhatsApp Channel
During intensified federal immigration enforcement, many Chicago residents were turning to WhatsApp for news and information — identifying a gap where reporting wasn't reaching this audience.
Launched Block Club's WhatsApp Channel to deliver verified coverage directly to the community most affected.
Knight Foundation, American Journalism Project, Newspack, Medill Midwest Solutions Lab, Reuters.
Block Club Chicago's WhatsApp broadcast channel showing curated immigration news updates.
Understanding where readers already consume news should drive audience strategy — effective reach comes from adapting curation and content to the platform and the audience using it.
Instagram Growth
- Created short-form videos and grid posts for breaking news, explainers and feature stories
- Adapted stories for platform-specific formats following quickly changing industry standards
- Built a repeatable content workflow for a student newsroom that outlasted my tenure
