K athy Sheehan

Retired Editor and Scribe


Professional Experience

Content manager, writer and editor for news, PR, web, social media and other publications. Quality project creation, SEO, management and training in multi-media environments for diverse audiences and formats.

  • SPIE discriminates against womenSPIE Professional MAGAZINE - More than 10 years as managing editor for the now defunct quarterly member magazine (print and online) and for quarterly and monthly e-newsletters for non-profit society advancing an interdisciplinary approach to the science of light. Responsible for acquiring technical and general interest content for magazine for optics and photonics professionals; editing; writing; and coordinating production with marketing, graphics, printer, mailer and PR. Magazine was sponsor of the SPIE International Year of Light Photo Contest.

  • PRWEB - More than two years as the first managing editor for the leading direct-to-consumer press release newswire, now known as Cision. Responsible for hiring and training editorial and customer support staff for 24/7 service in Ferndale, Wash., and Lanham, Md.; overseeing editorial review process for hundreds of press releases distributed daily; and developing, codifying and implementing editorial policies and customer relations standards before the company was acquired by Vocus. Created college internship program. As a hands-on manager, also provided search engine optimization, writing and editing services.

  • WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Office of University Communications (formerly the Public Information Office) - Ten years as publications editor for public affairs office. Developed and maintained website to provide the media and the public with press releases, print-quality photos, news tips, speakers' guide and experts' list. Responsible for writing, researching, editing and desktop publishing of parents' newsletter, alumni quarterly (79,000 circulation) and other official university publications. Worked closely with other divisions on campus to develop and design online pages and tools such as scrolling headlines, all university events calendar, press release database, etc. Worked with consultants to convert publications for the Web or converted them myself. Extensive skills with page layout, Web authoring, photo processing, word processing, presentation, database and other software as well as digital camera for marketing, fund-raising, public relations, community relations and crisis communications.

  • WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY Journalism Department - Journalism instructor for classes in newswriting, reporting, editing (print, video and Web) and online journalism, eight years. All courses had online syllabus and new media component.

  • THE BELLINGHAM HERALD - Two years as senior city reporter covering politics, the City Council, city administration and some general assignment for small-town daily. Generated own story ideas by developing and maintaining community, governmental and political sources. Researched unfamiliar subjects on a moment's notice and wrote about complex subjects in a clear, concise and creative manner. Interviewed cooperative and reluctant subjects and met daily deadlines. Also coordinated student internship program and served on newspaper's marketing committee and the Internet committee which subsequently led to an online presence for the newspaper.

  • Daily News LogoTHE PHILADELPHIA DAILY NEWS - Twelve years as general assignment and beat reporter, primarily covering labor issues, courts and city government for 200,000-circulation daily. Exclusive projects included a week-long package exposing high-level city managers who collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime compensation and several investigative stories on questionable business practices and organizing tactics by union leaders. Timely, inside reporting on contract negotiations. As neighborhoods' beat reporter, specialized in tales about off-beat community controversies such as opposition to a community vegetable garden by neighbors afraid it would depreciate their property value. Revived the paper's funky Marquis of Debris column to award-winning status with a humorous crusade against litter. Won community, labor and journalism awards.

  • THE PHILADELPHIA BULLETIN - Beat reporter covering the casino industry and courts for the all-editions Atlantic City Page of 400,000-circulation daily. Developed a weekly profile of local newsmakers and covered business developments. Reviewed restaurants for Sunday paper. Also worked as general assignment reporter and deadline rewrite in Philadelphia before the paper folded. Was summer intern.

  • THE PRESS of ATLANTIC CITY - Features editor, news reporter, business writer, features writer and copy editor for 70,000-circulation daily. Worked with a team that created a business section for the paper.

  • THE BOSTON GLOBE - Weekend general assignment reporter for 400,000-circulation metro daily. Began as editorial clerk in sports department.

  • SheehanWorld mastheadTHE SHEEHAN WORLD - October 1995 to present. Editor and publisher of fun newspaper-homepage for family, friends and interested Internet readers.

  • FREE-LANCE
    • Editing of books, newsletters, magazines, including: Daylight Forever, a Memoir, 2019; Connecting in San Francisco 1998; Connecting in Philadelphia 1994 and 2001 editions; Philly Nitelife 1997; Philadelphia NOW newsletter; Sean Humphrey House newsletter; New Age Retailer magazine; and Corinthian Yacht Club newsletter.
    • PhotoSynergy: Digital photography for weddings, events, business portraits, the Walrus (rock band) and various Web sites
    • Writing for The New York Times real estate section, Dockside Northwest magazine, Philadelphia Inquirer Sunday magazine, The Boston Globe, New Jersey Monthly, American Sweeper, Cambridge (Mass.) Chronicle, Corvallis (Ore.) Gazette-Times, the Associated Press
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Education

UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON Department of Communication (formerly the School of Communications)
M.A. in communications. GPA: 3.9. Research area in new media: online journalism, news values, press law in cyberspace.

BU logoBOSTON UNIVERSITY College of Communication
B.S. in journalism, minor in urban affairs and history. GPA: 3.6. (Formerly the School of Public Communication)

OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
Attended two quarters under National Student Exchange program from UMass.

UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS
English/Journalistic Studies major in Amherst before transfer to BU.

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Achievements, Awards, Scholarships

  • Council for Advancement and Support of Education, bronze award for development of content for WWU Alumni Association web site, 1998
  • C.B. Blethen Memorial Award for distinguished investigative reporting, 2nd place, 1996
  • Washington Press Association, Communicator of Excellence awards, 1996 and 1994
  • Society of Professional Journalists, government reporting award, 1st place, 1995
  • Best of Gannett, Freedom of Information award, 1995
  • Well Done Award, Gannett Corp., November/December 1995
  • Society of Professional Journalists, special citation for best news story, 1992
  • Shining Example award, PhilaPride, 1991
  • Special Award for outstanding contributions to PHILAPOSH and health and safety in the workplace, 1984
  • Philadelphia Press Association spot news award, 1981
  • Boston University scholarship, 1976-1977
  • Frank E. Gannett Newspaper Foundation grant, 1976
  • Massachusetts Board of Higher Education scholarship, 1973-1975
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Conferences, Publications, Blogs, Leadership

  • Presenter, The Ins and Outs of Editing, Nov. 19, 2002, Whatcom Communications Association
  • Author, Congress shall make no law ... defining who is a journalist. Paper accepted for 1999 national convention of Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, law division.
  • Author, Fighting City Hall: How Bellingham opened doors in Editorially Speaking (Gannett Corp., June 1996)
  • Reporter, How city employees have solid gold weekends in Local News Ideabook (Knight-Ridder Corp., May 1993).
  • Panel leader, Media Perspectives: Shaping the Region's Labor-Management Image, Labor-Management Cooperation conference sponsored by the Philadelphia Area Labor-Management Committee (PALM), 1993.
  • Negotiating Committee, Washington Public Employees Association, 2004
  • Attended conferences on computer-assisted reporting (NICAR 1996), wity The Committee of Concerned Journalists (1998) and Poynter workshops
  • Judge, annual Fairmount Park Commission student essay contest, Philadelphia, 1992-1993.
  • Volunteer, Big Sisters of Philadelphia and Tall Ship Gazela. (Mentored 9-year-old girl, 1993-1994, and was tour guide and crew member of Gazela, 1990-1993.)
  • Recruiter and coordinator, The Bellingham Herald internship program, 1995-1996.
  • Teaching assistant, Boston University copy editing classes, 1976-1977.
  • Founding member, Women's Network of South Jersey, 1981.
  • Sailing instructor and trip leader, American Youth Hostels, Philadelphia, 1988-1993.
  • Clerk of communications committee, Bellingham Friends Meeting

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Professional Memberships (current and former)

  • Northwest Editors Guild
  • American Sailing Association
  • Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication
  • Pacific Northwest Association of Journalism Educators
  • American Association of University Professors
  • Whatcom Communications Association, now known as Whatcom Writers and Publishers
  • Whatcom MacUser Group
  • National Organization for Women
  • Sigma Delta Chi
  • National Honor Society
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Personal/Other:

  • Coast-Guard licensed captain (master, up to 100 tons, with sailing and towing endorsements, and operator of uninspected passenger vessels)
  • ASA certified instructor for basic keelboat sailing, basic coastal cruising, bareboat cruising and coastal navigation.
  • Former member-leader of Washington Public Employees Association and Newspaper Guild, Local 10
  • 2023 Commodore, Corinthian Yacht Club of Bellingham
  • Versatile with both PCs using Windows and Apple Macintosh operating systems.
  • Proficient with Content Management Systems; Web authoring tools; RSS feeds; Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint; Adobe Acrobat, InDesign and PhotoShop; Google docs and Google sheets; Web browsing applications; e-mail programs; and others


Web sites I helped develop and have managed:

Sheehan World | Bellingham Friends Meeting
University Communications at WWU | SPIE Professional magazine

Contact Kathy Sheehan by email. Send to editor at (@) this Web domain.

Updated January 2025