Alese Underwood
Tampa, FL
@AleseU
From live in the field solo, to reporting from the anchor desk – I’m always working to find the stories that matter to people in the local community. I help tell those stories on a variety of platforms on-air, online, and on social media.
Professional Experience
Spectrum Bay News 9, Tampa, FL (DMA #13)
October 2020 – Present
MMJ – General Assignment with a focus on military and veterans affairs.
– Emphasis on creative storytelling using Spectrum Character Driven Story model.
– Daily turns and longer form packages 2-3x per week.
– Every story shot and edited on an iPhone.
Spectrum News /Time Warner Cable News, San Antonio, TX (DMA #31)
December 2014 – June 2020
Reporter/MMJ/Anchor – Bexar County Government, General Assignments
– Pitch daily stories while enterprising unique angles relevant to the community.
– Report, shoot, edit, write, social media update, and web copy edit a news package every
day on deadline.
– Daily live shots solo
– Helped station integrate cell phone reporting
Time Warner Cable News, Austin, TX (DMA #39)
June 2014 – December 2014
Reporter/MMJ – General Assignments
– Report, shoot, edit, a news package every day on deadline.
KTAL-TV, Shreveport, LA (DMA #82)
June 2012 – May 2014
Reporter/MMJ/Anchor – Louisiana State Politics, Shreveport City Council, Caddo Parish Commission.
– Produce hard-news stories surrounding local and state government.
– Report, shoot, edit, and web copy multiple stories each day.
WJET-TV/FOX 66, Erie, PA (DMA # 150)
June 2010 – June 2012
Television News Reporter – Erie County courts, Federal Courts, Pennsylvania Politics, Local Politics
– Daily news coverage of court cases
– Hard/Breaking News
– Hearts Without Homes Feature Reporter
Education
Bachelor of Arts degree, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 2006-2010.
Major: Professional Communication – Duel Focus – Broadcast and Public Relations
Minor: Government/Political Science
Minor: Middle Eastern Studies
Technical Skills
– Expert at social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Linked-In etc)
– Extensive video shooting knowledge with Panasonic, Dejero, and cell phone reporting.
– Advanced in editing systems – Avid, Final Cut, Dalet, Adobe Premiere Pro 2022.
– Experience with iNEWS, Dalet, ENPS software.
– Working knowledge of Microsoft® Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, Adobe Photoshop, website design, database systems.
Special Training
– National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Storytellers Workshop.
– Live shot and social media training through Magid Talent Services.
– Anchor focus training with Talent Dynamics.
– Joe Little MMJ training workshop
– Social Influencer Training – Magid Talent Services
– Attended Excellence in Journalism Conference in Baltimore, MD 2018.
– Attended MojoFest – the world’s largest mobile journalism conference in Galway, Ireland.
– Completed a week long MMJ Bootcamp with Michael Rosenblum at Spectrum News Milwaukee.
Awards
– Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Award
– Feature Piece “Hearts Without Homes”
– Frequently awarded “Spectrum News San Antonio Digital Dominator of the Month” for highest number of website clicks per story and interactions on social media (Likes, Shares, Tweets, Re-Tweets, Favorites etc)
– Named one of “Texas Top 50 Women to Watch” The Society Diaries & Eleanora Magazine