Stephon Pujols-Johnson
Forest Hills,NY
Summary
Highly experienced reporter, writer, and editor with a nose for news, sports, education, labor, and community journalism. Extensively covers features and other events with equal passion to capture and inform wide readership and circulation.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
Work History
Yankees Reporter
MLBReport.com
New York, NY
03.2024 - Current
- Publishes content multiple times a week about the New York Yankees baseball team
- Provides reports and analysis.
Microsoft
07.2023 - 01.2024
- Focused on upskilling in several programs: Datawrapper, Audio Editing, Adobe programs, Office Suite (Advanced Excel), and project management, to advance my skillset further before pursuing my next role.
Manhattan Reporter
THE CITY
New York, NY
07.2022 - 07.2023
- Generated exclusive, high-impact stories on both short-turnaround pieces and long-term, submitted in-depth projects on deadline
- Effectively used digital reporting and engagement methods, via social media and more, to propel a story, from reporting to post-publication
- Connected with everyday New Yorkers for stories and tips, producing thought-provoking work driven by people and grounded in data, interviews, and research
- Supported, collaborated, and collectively executed THE CITY’s mission of service to the people of New York.
Fulltime Staff Writer and Reporter
New York Amsterdam News
New York, NY
03.2009 - 07.2022
Education Fellow
Black
New York, NY
04.2021 - 06.2022
- Wrote weekly stories on how COVID-19 impacted education and schools in New York
- Participated in weekly meetings and debates with reporters from different newspapers on how COVID affected education.
Census Reporting Fellow/ Freelance Writer
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
New York, NY
01.2011 - 01.2014
- Wrote about how demographic/population changes affect the Census rollout and about getting the word out to the Black community to fill out the Census
- Contributed to the "Voices of NY" website, producing online and print articles on the effects of the 2013 NYC Mayoral Election
- Held sessions on the importance of the 2020 Census and what it means for New York specifically
- Interviewed public figures around New York City
- Attended seminars and wrote about community and ethnic media.
Former Freelance Sports Reporter
01.2007 - 01.2009
- Reported, wrote, researched, and edited articles for print and online versions of newspaper and its website to inform black community
- Covered stories for local and national politics, news, union/labor issues, education, arts & entertainment, and sports, wrote book reviews and celebrity obituaries for the Arts & Entertainment section, meeting consistent deadlines
- Gathered multimedia components such as photos and videos and conducted interviews for each story
- Attended editorial meetings and pitched story ideas, wrote, and uploaded articles, and posted videos and photos to the website
- Assisted in managing the publication’s social media accounts, implemented strategies to optimize the website, engaging, and growing our readership
- Performed copy editing and additional last-minute write-ups as needed.
FREELANCE
FEATURED
- PROJECTS AND COLLABORATIONS
- Previously published stories featured in: City & State NY, The Week, The Athletic, The Sports Fan Journal-Current, Polygon/ Vox Media, MLB Reports, The Classical, Beyond Race Magazine, Baeble Music, Borough of Manhattan Community College, The Shield Institute/Pure Vision Arts, Boheme Verite Magazine
Communications and Development Coordinator
Shield Institute / Pure Vision Arts
New York, NY
Class Instructor
Lehman College
Bronx, NY
Writer/ PR & Research Assistant
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
Bronx, NY
Education
Bachelor’s Degree of the Arts - Journalism & Mass Communications, History
St. Bonaventure University
Russell J. Jandoli School of Communications
Skills
TECHNICAL SKILLSAssociated Press Writing Style (AP) Proficiency, Copy Editing, Basic Photo Editing, Writing, Proofreading, ResearchPhotography, Podcasting, Public Speaking, Radio Announcing, CM systems, Radio Announcing, social media, communicationsMAC/ Apple, PCs, Information Systems (IOS), Google (G-Suite), Microsoft Office, (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc), Libre OfficeCORE COMPETENCIESExercises broad journalism skills in news, sports, features, community, investigative, multimedia reporting, writing, and editingConsistently produces creative story ideas, via Press Release and Feature Writing, Grant Writing, Blog Writing, and InterviewingA sense of humor, diligence, and capable of collaborating and communicating with a team and working independently
Additional Information
- AWARDS AND CAREER HIGHLIGHTS , Featured Guest Writer for City & State NY’s, Black Power 100 List from 2019 through 2021 Previous panelist for Newsmakers at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY Featured guest on Inside City Hall on Spectrum NY1 to discuss political events covered in Amsterdam News Elected as union Shop Stuart for Local 31003 of the News Guild of New York 2019-2022 Former guest on the Podcast, the Infinite Inning, and Express Yourself with Imhotep Gary Byrd on 107.5 WBLS Award Winner, Ippies -Third Place for Best Investigative In-Depth Story in April 2012
Timeline
Yankees Reporter
MLBReport.com
03.2024 - Current
Microsoft
07.2023 - 01.2024
Manhattan Reporter
THE CITY
07.2022 - 07.2023
Education Fellow
Black
04.2021 - 06.2022
Census Reporting Fellow/ Freelance Writer
CUNY Graduate School of Journalism
01.2011 - 01.2014
Fulltime Staff Writer and Reporter
New York Amsterdam News
03.2009 - 07.2022
Former Freelance Sports Reporter
01.2007 - 01.2009
FREELANCE
FEATURED
Communications and Development Coordinator
Shield Institute / Pure Vision Arts
Class Instructor
Lehman College
Writer/ PR & Research Assistant
Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice
Bachelor’s Degree of the Arts - Journalism & Mass Communications, History
St. Bonaventure University
Russell J. Jandoli School of Communications