NIC F. ANDERSON

REPORTER, AUTHOR, FILMMAKER & ARTIST

ABOUT NIC F. ANDERSON

Nic F. Anderson (she/they) is a journalist; creative writer; filmmaker; photographer; graphic designer; and an occasional public speaker.

They are a fact-driven and detailed orientated reporter and creative writer experienced with developing, writing and editing articles with unwavering dedication. Anderson has experience with both print and online media, along with experience in newspaper layout.

Her articles, creative writing, artwork, graphic design, and photography have been published in newspapers, magazines, zines, anthologies and literary journals.

Anderson's experience in photography, filming and editing both film and audio have given her countless opportunities. Their films have been shown at the Central Illinois Feminist Film Festival in 2020 and the ninth annual North by Northeastern Film Festival in 2019. Anderson was recently selected to be included in the Political Edge Film Festival in Milwaukee Wisconsin in 2020.

Her research essay, “Queer Memes: Starting Conversations, Building Community and Unconsciously Raising Visibility,” won at NEIU’s 27 Annual Research and Creative Activities Symposium in the communication, media and theatre poster section.

They are a graduate from both Northeastern Illinois University and Wilbur Wright College where she received many awards for her academic and leadership success. Anderson occasionally goes back to Northeastern Illinois University to teach Associated Press (AP) Style workshops to the Independent staff.

Anderson has been mentioned in Noteworthy at Northeastern, ChicagoVoyage's Trailblazer series and was invited to interview author Becky Sarwate live at the Chuck Kane fundraising event.

Work Experience

Present

GENERAL ASSIGNMENT REPORTER

JOURNAL & TOPICS NEWSPAPER; 07/2019-PRESENT

Writes stories as assigned by editor for various northwestern Illinois suburbs such as Mount Prospect, Prospect Heights, Des Plaines, Arlington Heights, Glenview and Park Ridge.

FOUNDER AND WRITER

YUNGMIGA.COM; 06/2015 - PRESENT

Finding and writing stories; finalizing photos using Photoshop; interviewing; fact-checking; headline writing; etc.

FREELANCE WRITER

VARIES; 01/2016 – PRESENT

Finding, pitching and writing stories; working with editors; establishing relationships.

FREELANCE EDITOR

VARIES; 01/2016 – PRESENT

Working with writers to edit their papers and articles using AP or MLA format.

Past

CO-MANAGING EDITOR

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER; 03/2018 - 05/2019

Maintain relationships between editors and other staff; supervising and coaching editors and staff; collaborating with the EIC; hire new staff members; and enforce deadlines.

NEWS EDITOR

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER; 06/2018 - 05/2019

Finding and assigning stories; teaching AP style to staff; editing articles; writing news stories*; fact-checking; headline writing; and collaborating with photographers and other editors. *has written more than 50 news articles at the Independent.

PRODUCTION MANAGER

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER; 01/2019 – 05/2019

Planning newspaper layout; finalizing photos using Photoshop; laying out the newspaper on InDesign; editing; proofreading; dropping stories, photos and ads; and following up with editors and staff about stories, photos, graphics and ads.

SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

CHRISTINA CROSS' SMILING SOULS; 02/2016 – 01/2019

Kept social media up-to-date with events, classes and news. Interacted with potential, new and current students via posts, comments and messages. Maintained brand awareness and online reputation. Created and managed content. Used search engine optimization (SEO) on Facebook page to draw more attention to social media page. Administered, created and published high-quality content that is relevant to Smiling Souls and/or owner Christina Cross. Kept a regular schedule for post publishing

EDITORIAL INTERN

CHICAGO NEWS MEDIA GROUP; 12/2018 –02/2019

Wrote and revised article; fact-checked; learned importance of SEO and how to use it properly.

STAFF REPORTER

INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER; 01/2018 –03/2018

Wrote assigned articles for news, arts and life and opinions and revised articles.

BOOK EDITOR

TONY MEEHLEIS' BOOK "AUTISM TRANSFORMED"; 08/2017

Edited the entirety of the book; looking for grammatical and punctuational errors.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

THE WRIGHT TIMES NEWSPAPER; 04/2016 –12/2016

Took care of the day-to-day duties; coordinated with the advertisement agencies; had final say of what was published; managed a staff of 15; hired and trained editors; and maintained the social media pages.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

THE WRIGHT SIDE MAGAZINE; 08/2015 –06/2016

Collected, compiled and read through all of the submissions; designed the magazine’s style, size and theme and managed a staff of 10.

ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR

THE WRIGHT TIMES NEWSPAPER; 11/2015 – 04/2016

Wrote assigned articles for arts and culture, assigned writers articles and revised articles.

STAFF REPORTER

THE WRIGHT SIDE NEWSPAPER; 08/2015 –11/2015

Wrote assigned articles for news, arts and life and opinions and revised articles as requested by editor.