Kareem Johnson

I'm a freelance digital journalist based in New York City. I'm a recent college graduate, cutting my teeth on local community news. I'm also a contributing freelance... more

I'm a freelance digital journalist based in New York City. I'm a recent college graduate, cutting my teeth on local community news. I'm also a contributing freelance writer for the University City and Clayton-Richmond Heights Patch.com sites in St. Louis, MO. A 2010 graduate of Saint Louis University, with a degree in Communications and a certificate in Creative and Professional Writing, I was a weekly contributor the the campus newspaper, the University News, where I was a contributing reporter and editor. I was the News Director for SLU News22, the campus television newscast, helping to produce a record number of newscasts. My goal as a journalist is giving viewers and insight into their communities and their their worlds. The news from down the block is every bit as important as the news that happens a world away. In college media and my professional career, I have worked hard to attain a wide-ranging skill set that is valuable to today's newsrooms, marketing departments and public relations departments, using social media on daily basis, tweeting and retweeting information on several topics throughout the day, and opening dialog to viewers, and readers, and interacting with them, and give an organization a competitive edge. I've interviewed people ranging from world-known personal safety expert Nancy Hightshoe, to political analyst Paul Begala, to TV personality Bill Nye (The Science Guy) to social activist and professor Dr. Cornel West while in college. I like to know what's going on in the community, and I feel the audience does too. Too often, local news leaves out the community in it's coverage; it is not only important to cover the story, but how it affects that community. Another important, and mostly overlooked type of reporting is transportation coverage. I've always been curious about mass transit and how it influences communities. After completing an internship at DNAinfo.com, in Manhattan, I saw on a daily basis how news can effect a community, from a shooting in East Harlem, to a sewage treatment plant fire, these events profoundly effect the communities they're in. My ultimate goal is a full-time community reporting In New York City, utilizing my social media skills to help inform the public. I also have a keen interest in marketing and public relations.