BRENNA SWANSTON
Copy editor.
Storyteller.
Lifelong learner.
About Me
My name is Brenna Swanston (she/her). I'm a copy editor and writer with more than six years of demonstrated experience in journalism and content marketing. I currently work as a copy editor for Red Ventures Education. I hold a bachelor of science in journalism from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. My news background focuses on education, environment, immigration, agriculture and religion.
Since 2017, I've been writing and editing content on a remote basis while traveling the world. Amid COVID-19, I've settled in San Luis Obispo, California, eagerly awaiting the chance to travel abroad safely once again.
Work Experience
COPY EDITOR II
Red Ventures Education | Full-Time | Remote | Aug. 2021 - Present
COPY EDITOR I, Sep. 2020 - Aug. 2021
CONTRACT COPY EDITOR, June 2018 - Sep. 2020
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Promoted within one year of coming on full time for exceeding goals and demonstrating leadership skills
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Copyedit and write content for RV EDU's BizTech team (Accounting.com, OnlineMBA.com, ComputerScience.org, CyberDegrees.org)
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Serve on RV EDU's Style Guide Committee to help maintain and update company style guide
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Created and continually update EDU's Conscious Language Guide to ensure inclusive, appropriate language across all EDU content
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Conduct high-level content approvals to ensure quality, clarity, and accuracy
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Occasionally copyedit news content for BestColleges.com
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Train incoming writers and copy editors on style guide and editorial processes
WRITER AND COPY EDITOR
Various Clients | Freelance | Remote | July 2014 - Present
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Pitched and wrote 2+ SEO articles per week for websites producing science, business, and travel content (e.g., Chron.com, Career Trend, Sciencing.com)
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Refreshed USA Today and 10Best articles for accuracy, SEO, and style
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Assigned and managed editorial content for LIVESTRONG.COM
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Wrote and edited blog posts, press releases, product descriptions, and general web copy for e-commerce firm clients
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Wrote landing page content, Facebook and Google ad copy, and YouTube video scripts for Vietnam-based architecture and planning startup
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Crafted Instagram posts for sustainable lifestyle brand based in the Netherlands
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Proofread communications for president of San Francisco-based marketing firm
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Copyedited PowerPoint decks for large Nebraska-based advertising agency
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Queen City Nerve | Freelance | Charlotte, North Carolina | March 2019
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Wrote a three-part feature series exploring racial and socioeconomic segregation in Charlotte’s public schools, analyzing Charlotte's impact on school segregation across the United States
STAFF WRITER
The Sun | Full-Time | Santa Maria, California | Jan. 2016 - June 2017
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Wrote news briefs and longform enterprise stories focused on education, agriculture and the environment
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Copyedited the paper’s news section every week
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Backfilled for proofreader and managing editor when OOO
Awards
ASSOCIATION OF ALTERNATIVE NEWSMEDIA (AAN) AWARDS 2020:
Second Place: Long-Form News Story
NORTH CAROLINA PRESS ASSOCIATION EDITORIAL CONTEST 2019:
Second Place: Education Reporting
CALIFORNIA NEWSPAPER PUBLISHERS ASSOCIATION (CNPA) BETTER NEWSPAPERS CONTEST 2016:
First Place: Agricultural Reporting
Honorable Mention: Profile Feature Story
Honorable Mention: Coverage of Education
COLLEGE MEDIA ASSOCIATION PINNACLE AWARDS 2015:
Third Place: Arts & Entertainment Story
CNPA CAMPUS EXCELLENCE IN JOURNALISM CONTEST 2015:
First Place: Profile Feature Story
Find my full resume in a PDF here.
My Writing
City Farm SLO: A New Way of Farming
Central Coast Living Magazine
I volunteer for City Farm SLO, a nonprofit regenerative urban farm in San Luis Obispo, California. In August 2021, I wrote a profile on the farm for Central Coast Living Magazine, a small local publication.
History is Now: Segregation in Charlotte's Public Schools
Queen City Nerve
First Installment | Second Installment | Third Installment
Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS) -- Charlotte, North Carolina's public school district -- has led and reflected national segregation trends for generations. Nearly 50 years ago, a Supreme Court case involving CMS sparked a wave of busing policies and reintegration efforts across the United States. Now, the district is again one of the country's most socioeconomically and racially segregated.
In this three-part series, I explored the historical role of CMS in school segregation nationwide and how segregation still pervades in the district today.
This series placed second for long-form news story in the 2020 Association of Alternative Newsmedia Awards. It also placed second for education reporting in the 2019 North Carolina Press Association Editorial Contest.
The Top Five Things to Do in Lima, Peru
USA Today
From 2017-2018, I contributed content to USA Today's Travel Tips section, including some longform editorial assignments, such as this one. This piece explores how to spend a trip to Lima. I researched and wrote this article after visiting Lima myself, so I pulled from my personal travel experiences in addition to materials I found online.
Starting a Second-hand Clothing Business
Chron.com
I contributed articles for the small business section at Chron.com, the Houston Chronicle's web publication. For this piece, I delved into the process of starting a second-hand clothing business. I interviewed the co-founder of Buffalo Exchange and an entrepreneur who sold vintage clothing independently online. I also researched opinions from the president of the National Association of Resale and Thrift Shops.
Illness, Incarcerated
The Sun
Santa Barbara County lacks behavioral wellness resources, forcing many of its residents with mental illnesses into a cycle between the streets and county jail cells. I looked into the reasons behind this cycle of incarceration and county efforts to remedy it.
Bigfoot Has an FBI File -- And It's Strange
Sciencing.com
For Sciencing.com, I contributed "weird science" content, for which I researched and aggregated offbeat stories for adolescent-aged readers. In this piece, I discussed the FBI's investigation of Bigfoot in the 1970s, the results of which the bureau released in 2019. The article tells the story of a prominent Bigfoot theorist who sent a DNA sample to the FBI for testing in 1976, only to learn that the sample had come from a deer.
As part of a larger editorial project for Career Trend, I touched on the importance of career backup plans as evidenced by the 2018-19 partial government shutdown. In this piece, I used NPR reporting and data from a New York Times analysis to highlight how affected government employees earned income during the shutdown. I also touched on fast certification programs that might help professionals secure backup options for work.
The New Workforce
The Sun
I looked into local controversy surrounding H-2A, a federal program for temporary foreign farmworkers. This program draws sharp criticism from community members and farmworker rights activists, and it has created housing issues in Northern Santa Barbara County and all along the Central Coast.
This story won first place for agricultural reporting at the 2016 California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest.
Three Guadalupe residents drove across the country in November 2016 to join protestors resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline at the Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota. This is the story of our local "water protectors."
This story earned an honorable mention for profile feature reporting at the 2016 California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest.
The Bully Effect
The Sun
When a local mom approached the Sun with gruesome stories of how her daughter was bullied and the school district didn't appear to be taking action on the matter, I took a deeper look at why kids bully and how schools might address it.
This story garnered an honorable mention for coverage of education at the 2016 California Newspaper Publishers Association Better Newspapers Contest.