Erin Welch, Neighbor

My name is Erin Welch, and I was a reporter with The Orange County Register, an award-winning metropolitan newspaper in Southern California.

I am currently a high school English and journalism teacher in San Diego County.

From 2005-2009, I have reported on community issues, covering breaking news, taking on general assignments, publishing stories through online tools and editing copy.

I am proficient in online media and social networking, SEO and multimedia reporting — such as using video and linking stories for effective storytelling.

Along the way, I have picked up real-time reporting skills — such as Twitter and mico-blogging.

When was in the field covering breaking news, I shot raw video, participated in standing interviews for online video, took photos and dispatched live blog posts via Twitter and other online pagination.

At The Register, I was responsible for providing content for two weekly papers, OCRegister.com, and The Orange County Register.

I covered the cities of Yorba Linda and Placentia as well as the northern Orange County region.

I increased web-hits on a monthly basis, attracted unique visitors to local web pages and maintained a newsprint audience through engaging, community news and feature stories.

I am passionate about writing, media and teaching. I wish to teach marketable writing skills, and how to incorporate the traditional reporting skills into today’s ever-changing media landscape. I see the shift in the media culture as an opportunity to teach new skills to a younger generation that is already familiar with Internet media tools.

I hold a B.A. in English with a Journalism emphasis and a minor in Psychology from Chapman University in Orange, Calif.

I am originally from San Diego, Calif. I currently live in Escondido, Calif .