Monday, March 21, 2022

Freelance Chat with Award-Winning Freelancer Lisa Murtha

 

Attention
Freelancers! Journalists!
JOIN US FOR A FREELANCE CHAT WITH AWARD-WINNING FREELANCER LISA MURTHA
TOPIC: "Finding Fresh Story Ideas and Original Sources"
Wondering how to come up with article ideas and original sources? Award-winning freelancer Lisa Murtha will offer insight on how to make the most of your freelancing by finding creative ways to generate fresh ideas and how to connect with original sources.
Coming up with freelance ideas doesn't have to be hard. In fact, it can be fun. In "Finding Fresh Story Ideas and Original Sources," award-winning freelancer Lisa Murtha will offer plenty of practical tips and advice.
The session will be moderated by Ginny McCabe, award-winning freelancer and president of Cincinnati SPJ.
ABOUT GUEST SPEAKER LISA MURTHA
A Cleveland, Ohio native, I earned a Bachelor's Degree in English / Creative Writing from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. After a short stint as a location scout for Candid Camera, I pursued a decade-long career in television production, with highlights including: producing Cincinnati's first-ever early-morning newscast, serving as script supervisor on numerous local and national television commercials, producing home and garden segments for the Do-It-Yourself Network and eventually creating, writing and producing a regional Emmy-nominated documentary film about two mid-century-modern architects for public television called A Hillside Firm. While working in production, I began building my freelance writing portfolio as well, penning everything from cover stories in Cincinnati Magazine to a ghost-written column in the Cincinnati Enquirer and educational resources and website content for PBS.
Today I live in southwest Ohio and continue my work, mainly in print journalism, for clients like America Magazine,Chicago Magazine The Epoch Times and the Cincinnati Business Courier. I am also a Contributing Editor for Cincinnati Magazine, where I write both feature stories and a bi-monthly series called Person of Interest.
I have won numerous state and local awards for my work - most recently, 2021 Best Freelancer from the Ohio Society of Professional Journalists. In 2020, I won both the Cleveland Press Club's General Magazine Features award and the Cincinnati Society of Professional Journalist's Best Magazine Story award for my feature on a Covington, Kentucky family that triumphed after a vicious, nationwide social media-orchestrated attack following the January 2019 Nicholas Sandmann / CovCath / March for Life incident in Washington, D.C.
My husband and I are also the proud parents of 3 sons - two fully grown and living down south and one who’s a junior in high school here in Cincinnati.
ABOUT MODERATOR GINNY McCABE
Named "Best Freelance Writer" in 2018 and a Kiplinger Fellow in 2019, Ginny McCabe’s work can be seen in publications like Journal-News and Reuters. One of her books, Secrets Young Women Keep (Thomas Nelson/Harper Collins) is an ECPA Silver Medallion winner and has been featured on the CBA Young Adult Bestseller Lists. Ginny is the president of the Cincinnati Pro Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and a is a SPJ Freelance Community board member. Serving as Region 4 Coordinator, she also works with professional and student SPJ chapters in Ohio, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. Connect with Ginny at www.ginnymccabe.com and on Twitter @ginnymccabe.
SOCIETY OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTSGREATER CINCINNATI PRO CHAPTER AND GRAYDON TO PRESENT OUR QUARTERLY EVENT FOR FREELANCERS
Open to all freelancers and journalists including print, broadcast, radio and digital. Lunch will be served.  There will be a discussion, and time for a Q&A. 
Topic: "Finding Fresh Story Ideas and Original Sources" with Lisa Murtha
Cost: $15
Program: 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.