About Melanie Mason

Contact Melanie Mason

Education:

Masters of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism

August 2008 - May 2010

Emphasis on print and multimedia journalism

Bachelor of Science, Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service

August 2003 - May 2007

Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, Culture and Politics Major Magna Cum Laude Related coursework included economics, intensive foreign language and political science

University of California, Berkeley, Graduate School of Journalism (August 2008 – present) Master of Journalism program, expected graduation in 2010 Emphasis on print and multimedia journalism

Georgetown University, School of Foreign Service, Washington, DC (2003-2007) Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service, Culture and Politics Major GPA 3.72 Related coursework included economics, intensive foreign language, political science and international relations

University of Seville, Seville, Spain Study abroad during academic year 2005-2006 Direct matriculation into the Spanish university system. Related coursework included anthropology, history and communications studies

Harvard-Westlake School, Los Angeles, CA (1997-2003) GPA 3.99, Honor Roll 1998-2003, National Merit Scholar Semi-Finalist

Published Stories:

Food Stamps for Good Food

The Nation

Melanie Mason '10 looks into the how farmers' markets are maximizing the value of food stamps.

Awards:

Kaiser Permanente Institute for Health Policy (July 2009)

Fellowship winner, 2009-2010 academic year

Robert Whittington Award for Exceptional Reporting (May 2009)

Honorable mention

Work Experience:

Bay Area Blog intern

New York Times  - Berkeley CA  ( October 2009 -  )

• Contribute reported posts on local news, arts and culture to the NYT Bay Area Blog, part of the Times’ expanded coverage in the Bay Area • Aggregate news from local print, broadcast and blog sources

Reporting intern

Politico  - Washington DC  ( May 2009 - August 2009 )

• Reported daily articles – often multiple stories in one day – on Congress, national politics and Washington life for POLITICO’s newspaper and website • Wrote enterprise features, including an investigation of Congressional office expenses and an assessment of the role of GOP women in the California governor’s race

Reporter, editor, and producer

OaklandNorth.net  - Oakland CA  ( September 2008 - May 2009 )

• Helped develop and launch an online hyper-local news outlet, sponsored by the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism and the Ford Foundation • Reported daily news and feature stories, consisting of text, video and audio slideshows

Desk assistant

The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer  - Arlington VA  ( January 2008 - July 2008 )

• Wrote copy for news stories, evaluated potential guests and completed extensive research for the program’s coverage of the Democratic and Republican National Conventions • Compiled research files for interview segments and tape pieces • Fact-checked, assembled and distributed show scripts • Rotated among various units in NewsHour, including the newsdesk, research unit, wires, setup unit and editorial team

Editorial web intern

The New Republic  - Washington DC  ( September 2007 - December 2007 )

• Helped with Web site maintenance, including formatting images and using HTML code • Wrote online articles and posts for the magazine’s blog, The Plank • Fact-checked and researched projects for Web articles

Skills:

• Language: Spanish – advanced reading, writing and conversation
  Computer: PC/Mac, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro, Soundslides Pro, Flash, ProTools, WordPress