Allen Baswell
With my 20-plus years experience as a reporter-writer with weekly, bi-weekly, and daily newspapers, magazines, etc., plus covering everything from city and county government, education, features as well as sports, I feel that these components should make me a suitable candidate for a freelance writing position
CAREER HISTORY:
September 2012-Present:
Contributing Writer, The Real Story, Columbus, Ms.
The Real Story is an on-line publication that was once available in print. I have covered Starkville Board of Aldermen meetings, Oktibbeha County Board of Supervisor meetings, Caledonia Board of Aldermen meetings, Columbus City Council meetings, Lowndes County Board of Supervisors meetings, and I write about Ole Miss, Mississippi State and Alabama sports.
March 2011-March 2012
Staff writer/radio host, Rebel One Media, Oxford, Ms.
I wrote articles for Game Time Rebels, a monthly publication devoted to coverage of Ole Miss sports, and I wrote game stories and columns for the Rebels247.com web site. I also served as a host/co-host for some sports talk shows on the Reb Sports Radio Network. I was also the color analyst and later play-by-play announcer for Oxford High School football games during the 2011 season.
November 2009--May 2010
Staff reporter, The Commercial Dispatch, Columbus, Ms.
I covered crime and courts, Caledonia Board of Aldermen meetings, Columbus Convention and Visitors Bureau meetings, Columbus-Lowndes County E-911 meetings. I also wrote general assignment pieces assigned to me, as well as business feature stories and regular feature stories. I handled photography for some of these assignments.
OTHER CARERR INFORMATION:
I have written for weekly, bi-weekly, and daily newspapers, magazines and specialty publications and journals as a fulltime writer and freelance contributor since 1990. I’ve lived and worked primarily in Mississippi and Alabama. On many occasions, I have had to be responsible for taking my own photos. I have over six years experience in radio as well.
EDUCATION INFORMATION:
I graduated from Booneville High School, Booneville, Ms., in May, 1983. In August, 1983, I enrolled at Northeast Mississippi Junior College, Booneville, Ms., where I was a journalism major. I wrote for the campus newspaper, The Beacon, and I contributed short drama and short fiction to the school’s literary journal The Flambeau. I had two one-act plays published in The Junior College Writer, the journal of the Mississippi Junior College Creative Writing Association. I won second and third place in Drama my freshman and sophomore years respectively.
I transferred to the University of Mississippi--Ole Miss--in August, 1985. I completed my studies in December, 1989, with a BA in journalism with a minor in English. I worked for a local radio station in Oxford, and wrote for the student newspaper The Daily Mississippian and was a part time sports writer for The Oxford Eagle.
AWARDS, ACCOMPLISHMENTS
I won awards from Mississippi Press Association (1996-2000) for writing and photography; and from 2005-08, I won four awards from the same association for Best Sports Feature Writing, including a first place award.
REFERENCES:
Joseph St. John, Publisher, The Real Story, Columbus, Ms.
662-497-2914
Chris Hannon, Editor, The Real Story, Columbus, Ms.
662-368-8181
Nanette Laster, Editor, The Grenada Star, Grenada, Ms.
662-226-4321