KAREN CATCHPOLE

914-***-****

abpoo5@r.postjobfree.com

APRIL 2006 to PRESENT TRANS-AMERICAS JOURNEY/

FREELANCE TRAVEL WRITER

In April of 2006 I embarked on the Trans-

Americas Journey (www.trans-americas.com), a three to five year, 200,000 mile working road

trip through North, Central and South America during which I am contributing stories about

travel, outdoor adventure, the environment, hotels, and destinations throughout the Americas to

magazines including Travel & Leisure, National Geographic Adventure, National

Geographic Traveler, Men s Journal, Outside, Elle, Allure, Every Day with Rachael Ray, the

travel section of the Minneapolis Star Tribune and PC Magazine as well as high-end travel web

sites including www.fodors.com, www.itravelishop.com, and www.indagare.com. I have also

been published in National Geographic Traveler on Campus, Utne Reader, Women Outside,

Escape, Asian Diver, Asian Geographic and Action Asia. To read recently published work, go to

http://www.transamericas.com/work.html.

JULY 2004 to APRIL 2006 DEPUTY EDITOR

SHOP ETC.

HEARST MAGAZINES

As the number two to the editor-in-chief, I

generated story ideas, planned lineups, managed and assigned staff writers and a stable of

freelancers, top-edited all copy, managed deadlines and budgets, liaised with our web staff and

wrote cover lines for this monthly fashion, home and beauty shopping magazine startup for 25-

49-year-old women.

MAY 2001 to JULY 2004 SENIOR EDITOR

JANE

FAIRCHILD PUBLICATIONS

I conceived, wrote, assigned and edited news

and current events features and oversaw the work of staff writers and freelancers who I

recruited and fostered. I also wrote the monthly Athletic Guinea Pig column, created and edited

the Drive column, and worked on cover lines, display text and overall issue lineup planning for

this ASME-nominated general interest magazine for 18-34-year-old women.

KAREN CATCHPOLE

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NOVEMBER 2000 to MAY 2001 SENIOR EDITORIAL PRODUCER

TRACKERS

OXYGEN MEDIA

I was responsible for defining the editorial

content, look, feel, voice, vision and attitude of Trackers, a live, daily two-hour, magazine

format television show for 16-20-year-old women. I approved, focused, assigned and supervised

stories for field and in-studio segments and worked with producers and the show writer to ensure

the most creative content was achieved on time and on budget. I oversaw a television production

staff of 60 and also worked with the staff of our web site to find ways for the television content to

converge with the web content. In December of 2000, I also co-created and served as a

supervising producer on "Trackers Connects: A World AIDS Day Special" which utilized then-

new technology to connect a group of young people in New York City with a group of young

people in Cape Town, South Africa for a live and interactive discussion about sex and AIDS.

JULY 1999 to NOVEMBER 1999 TRAVEL CHANNEL PRODUCER

DEJA.COM

I produced the Travel, Health & Fitness and

Lifestyles channels for deja.com, a web site which combined consumer ratings and reviews with

a comprehensive and practical buying comparison tool to help consumers make educated

shopping decisions. I was responsible for locating, acquiring, editing and organizing content from

outside vendors in some cases spearheading business development deals with content providers.

I was also responsible for improving the flow and display of information within my channels and

showcasing the most compelling content on my channel homepages each week.

JUNE 1995 to JUNE 1999 TRAVELER

I spent four years trekking, rafting, diving and

backpacking through South and South East Asia including eight months in India, two months in

Northern Pakistan, six months in Nepal, three months in Western China and Tibet, one month in

Sri Lanka, one month in Burma, two weeks in Cambodia, one month in Vietnam, one month in

Laos, five months in Thailand and six months in Malaysia and Borneo. During the course of this

journey I wrote regularly about travel, outdoor adventure, local cultures and the environment for

Escape, Action Asia, Asian Geographic and Asian Diver.

APRIL 1995 to JUNE 1995 CONSULTING EDITOR

JANE

TIME INC.

I was hired to provide overall editorial direction

and generate content ideas and principles during the development and initial proposal stages of

Jane magazine. My responsibilities included overseeing and working with a freelance art director

to design logos and a set of seven distinct covers with cover lines for focus grouping. I also came

up with titles and content descriptions for the magazine s regular fob and bob columns as well as

detailed synopses of features to create complete tables of contents for three well-balanced launch

issues.

KAREN CATCHPOLE

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JANUARY 1995 to JUNE 1995 WEB SITE PRODUCER

SMART MOUTHS

NEW LINE TV AND AMERICA ONLINE

I created, cast, wrote, produced, managed boards

and mediated a weekly roundtable discussion and live online chat shows for teenagers, which

took a frank look at everything from sex to anti-Semitism to eating disorders.

FEBRUARY 1994 to JUNE 1995 FREELANCE WRITER/EDITOR

I wrote stories about beauty, health, current

events and entertainment for national and international women s magazines including

Mademoiselle, Allure, Self, Zest (UK) and Elle. I was also a freelance top editor of several issues

of Swing magazine.

AUGUST 1993 to FEBRUARY 1994 SEGMENT PRODUCER

THE JON STEWART SHOW

PARAMOUNT TELEVISON

I researched and pre-interviewed celebrity and

non-celebrity guests, cleared music and wrote scripted introductions and interview questions for

Mr. Stewart for at least one live-to-tape five to seven minute interview segment for each nightly

episode of this nationally syndicated talk show.

JANUARY 1993 to AUGUST 1993 CONTRIBUTING EDITOR

TELL AND MOUTH 2 MOUTH

HACHETTE FILIPACCHI AND TIME INC.

I wrote features, fashion text and beauty copy

and provided overall editorial guidance for the start-ups and subsequent issues of both of these

general interest magazines for teenage girls.

OCTOBER 1992 to AUGUST 1993 STORY COORDINATOR/SEGMENT

PRODUCER

MTV

I cast and produced pre-taped field pieces for

programs made by MTV s specials department including 24 Hours in Rock and Roll for which

I was responsible for generating each segment story idea, finding, casting, pre-interviewing

and briefing the real people involved in each shoot, writing a segment outline and shoot script,

and overseeing each shoot on location across the country.

KAREN CATCHPOLE

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APRIL 1991 to MAY 1992 STORY EDITOR/HEAD WRITER

JANE PRATT & JANE

FOX & LIFETIME TELEVISION

I worked with the segment producers to

generate show ideas and define the tone, attitude and vision of each episode of this

daily talk show for 18-25-year-olds. I also wrote Ms. Pratt s script.

SEPTEMBER 1991 to APRIL 1991 HEAD WRITER/STORY COORDINATOR

LIKE WE CARE

MTV

I generated story ideas, researched and reported

those stories, pre-interviewed and cast the real people involved in my stories, wrote the shoot

script and briefed field producers to create at least one five minute field piece for each episode of

this Cable Ace Award winning daily, half hour magazine-format show for teenagers.

OCTOBER 1987 to SEPTEMBER 1991 FOUNDING EDITOR/STAFF WRITER

SASSY

MATILDA PUBLICATIONS & LANG

COMMUNICATIONS

I was hired at the magazine s inception to help

define the unique editorial voice that made Sassy one of the most successful new magazine

launches in American publishing history at the time, achieving a national circulation of 500,000

in its first year. As one of only three staff writers/editors, I was responsible for generating overall

editorial ideas and writing and editing copy. This included at least one feature as well as all the

fashion, sex, and beauty copy, and nine full-page columns for each issue of this ASME-

nominated, general interest magazine for teenage girls.

References available upon request.

To read recently published work, please go to: http://www.trans-americas.com/work.html

Contact this candidate