Gareth Platt

Tel:- Email:- FDN 04/09/1981 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-platt-4a0a8b97/ GARETH PLATT Personal statement I can offer you vast experience as a writer and editor, having worked for some of the biggest newspapers and communication houses in the world including the BBC, The Wall Street Journal and The Sunday Times. I am available immediately and am well-versed in working remotely. Recent career experience EU Business School Barcelona, Senior editor (freelance), April-May 2018 Working on a short-term contract for this multinational business school based in Les Corts, Barcelona, my daily tasks included: • Writing press releases, pamphlets, posters, emails, blogs, social media posts and content for EU’s various websites, using Microsoft Word and InDesign, and editing scripts for our videographer • Using SEO tools to tweak our existing content for maximum impact on Google • Editing articles written by my colleagues in Spain and other European countries, and offering advice to my Spanish teammates on how to write impactful content in English • Working hand-in-hand with our designers to create new images and creative concepts The Times and The Sunday Times, Editor (freelance), January 2015-March 2018 For over three years I worked as a freelance editor for The Sunday Times, checking, correcting and improving articles about sport for this hugely respected weekly paper and its daily sister title, The Times. With deadlines of only 15-20 minutes, I took raw copy sent by our correspondents and turned them into articles for an audience of two million people every week Responsibilities: • Checking the dates and statistics cited by our writers and rewriting copy where necessary • Cutting or lengthening copy to fit the textboxes, adding my own content to fill gaps when needed • Adding my own headlines, captions and pull quotes, ensuring they were both compelling and relevant • Liaising with authors throughout the editing process to ensure they were happy with the final product • Editing articles specifically for the digital (online and mobile) editions of The Times, taking copy sent by our online writers and improving it while adding my own headlines and captions • Writing my own articles about football, rugby and cricket for the online version, using SEO disciplines to ensure the content would rank highly on Google as well as appealing to our online audience talkSPORT and talkRADIO, Editor, August 2016-March 2018 The bosses of talkSPORT, a radio station known throughout Britain, gave me the project of developing a website for their new project, talkRADIO. I started the project from scratch with just two writers, and my role also included the translation of articles from Spanish to English for talkSPORT on a regular basis Responsibilities: • Taking news stories from Spanish titles such as Sport, Mundo Deportivo, Marca, AS and Cadena Cope and translating the most interesting quotes for an English-language audience • Writing news and features for talkSPORT, adapting them to best-practice SEO procedures to ensure they had the biggest possible impact on Google and NewsNow • Sending breaking news to my talkRADIO team with instructions on how they should write the story • Podcasting clips from our shows, editing the audio and uploading to Facebook, iTunes and YouTube • Correcting articles written by my team and offering feedback to help them develop their writing skills • Curating talkradio.co.uk, updating the pages and rotating the layout when new stories were published • Managing talkRADIO’s Twitter and Facebook channels and moderating our online comments section • Monitoring tools such as Google Trends, Google Analytics and Chartbeat to hone our content strategy • Writing press releases and marketing materials to promote talkRADIO and raise awareness • Appearing on the company’s Spanish-language radio station as a football pundit Tel:- Email:- FDN 04/09/1981 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-platt-4a0a8b97/ Dow Jones/The Wall Street Journal, Breaking News Editor, June 2015-August 2016 My main task was editing articles sent in by our team of reporters stationed over the world for WSJ’s print and online titles. It was often necessary to completely rewrite articles submitted by our foreign reporters Responsibilities: • Scouring the wires, WSJ’s bank of feeds and my own sources to find breaking news and send to journalists • Correcting news and checking statistics to ensure all content was 100% correct • Adding digital headlines tailored to SEO and to the demands of our various publication platforms • Adding images and page furniture, such as text boxes and pull quotes, to make articles even more enticing • Writing additional text to fill in missing information in our stories and add context where needed • Rewriting articles to sharpen the story and ensure that all the key information was emphasized • Sending detailed feedback to our reporters and advising on story-telling techniques, with emphasis on SEO IBT Media, Sub-editor/Chief sub-editor/Assistant editor/Acting managing editor, July 2012-June 2015 Hired as sub-editor, I was promoted to assistant editor (the second-highest editorial role) within 16 months and regularly served as managing editor. During my time at IBT the monthly readership rose from 2 to 20 million Responsibilities: • Covering the managing editor’s absences. Tasks included chairing daily meetings with the London bureau, assigning stories, setting the news agenda, planning on and off-diary content and liaising with the owners • Acting as chief sub for three months - managing the team, holding meetings and booking freelancers • Managing a team of news writers in London and Bangalore – sending them briefs on a daily basis, providing detailed guidance on story structure and editing their submissions, offering tailored feedback • Acting as sports editor for six months - hiring new reporters, holding meetings and offering mentoring • Interviewing the likes of Nigel Farage, Alex Salmond and John McAfee and writing my own articles about politics, technology, crime and sport, in English and Spanish • Developing a Spanish-language section - hiring Spanish writers, giving them briefs and delivering feedback • Laying out the IBT homepage and other pages using our CMS, and working with programmers on updates • Managing our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook and Google Plus) Crimson Publishing, Staff Writer-Features Editor, January 2011-June 2012 Working on Crimson’s flagship business websites www.startups.co.uk and www.growingbusiness.co.uk, I managed a team of writers, generated content for both sites and worked with marketing to win new clients BBC Match of the Day magazine, Writer/editor (contract), January-November 2010 On a fixed-term contract for this popular BBC football magazines, I helped deliver up to 20 pages of fresh, original print and online content a week, while designing special supplements using InDesign and Photoshop Weber Shandwick PR, editorial executive, March 2007-January 2008 Hired as a dedicated editorial specialist, I provided bespoke media materials for clients such as Shell, TetraPak and Taylor Wimpey, including press kits, press releases and advertorials Other translation and journalism projects I have written freelance for a number of renowned organisations, including Vogue, Vice and The Cricketer, and provided home-based translation services for two London companies, Loveurope and Global Trade Alliance Education Oxford University- The Manchester Grammar School- BA (Hons) Modern History, 2.1 3 A-levels, 10 GCSEs (5A*, 5A) References Derek Clements Chief sub editor, Sunday Times -,- Steve Langley Chief sub editor, IBTimes UK -,- Tel:- Email:-LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gareth-platt-4a0a8b97/ FDN 04/09/1981