55 WALNUT AVE.

, MILL VALLEY CA 94941

PETER ERIKSON PERIKSON@LIVE.COM
(415) 320-5176 (CELL); (415) 383-0975 (HOME)

CAREER SUMMARY

Experienced editor with significant grammar, technical writing, news gathering, design SPECIAL SKILLS
and Web skills. Managed 10-person team and ran most newsroom operations as
journalist for U.S. Department of Defense in Tokyo. Also supervised desk for Taking Web and graphic
publications in Northern, Southern and Central California. design courses at AcademyX,
an Adobe-certified training
Rewrite jargon-filled, abstruse copy into clear, concise English. Verify facts, dates and facility in San Francisco,
numbers; prevent libel; proof pages; follow appropriate style guides. Meet deadlines; through Workforce
Investment Act.
allocate space for stories, graphics and photos; develop story ideas; write headlines;
supervise, evaluate and hire others. Classes includes:
Adobe
Assemble dispatches on a single breaking story from multiple sources, including New Dreamweaver
York Times, McClatchy, Hearst and Associated Press, and combine them into one Photoshop
comprehensive report. Knowledgeable about banking industry, politics, health care, Flash
education and renewable energy, and can correctly interpret unemployment figures. Illustrator
InDesign
CSS
ACCOMPLISHMENTS HTML/XHTML

• Ensured deadlines were met so that newspaper deliveries to South Korea, Also learning:
mainland Japan, Okinawa and Guam could commence. Joomla
• Turned rough English translations of nightly Japanese news show into succinct
captions for PROV. Communications, Inc. Work delivered electronically from Proficient in:
Tokyo to Washington, D.C., for broadcast in America. • Posting content
to Internet
• Prepared three-part series on Hawaii’s prison system that appeared on Page
• QuarkXPress
One. Edited stories, wrote headlines and ensured text jibed with information in
• Microsoft Office Suite
graphics and photo captions. Only copy editor assigned to project. • Mac and PC platforms
• Created comprehensive staff style book from scratch over one-year period as • Shooting and editing
copy desk chief. Guide, combined with AP’s online, detailed key dates in Kern video
County history and listed local lawmakers and representatives. • Photography
• Hit early deadlines with smallest staff of week and largest workload as weekend
desk supervisor. My blog:
• Devised workaround for major software flaw in pagination system for Southern erikson.wordpress.com/
California daily. Fix boosted productivity and saved time.
• Covered 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games at numerous venues, including
Pepperdine University (water polo), Lake Casitas (rowing) and the Los Angeles
Memorial Coliseum.

1
EXPERIENCE
Copy Editor April 2008 – October 2009
Press-Enterprise, Riverside, CA

Ensured deadlines met on Friday and Saturday nights; chose wire content. Frequently ONLINE INFORMATION
selected to rewrite, and write headline for, top front-page wire story.
LinkedIn site:
www.linkedin.com/in/perikson
Copy Desk Chief March 2007 – March 2008
Appeal-Democrat, Marysville, CA Facebook page:
www.facebook.com
Processed photos and graphics, managed staff of five, designed front page and helped /eriksoneditor
run budget meeting. Increased paper’s Internet presence by setting up account with
Newseum, which posts front pages of newspapers around world. Twitter presence:
twitter.com/perikson

Copy Desk Chief March 2004 – October 2006 Headlines I’ve written:
Bakersfield Californian http://bit.ly/cVD66N

Supervised staff of 15, slotted stories, double-checked headlines and prevented libel. Series I edited
Acted as last set of eyes to proofread pages. http://bit.ly/cKadjT

My Designs:
Copy Editor February 2001 – October 2005 http://bit.ly/9y2XmE
The Advertiser, Honolulu
Lone copy editor to help publish paper’s afternoon edition. Filled in as slot person and
wire editor. Remained sharp by writing stories about genealogy, local USTA leagues and
traveling with children in Japan.

News Editor, Assistant Pacific Desk editor June 1997 – January 2001
Pacific Stars & Stripes, Tokyo

Led morning budget meeting. Promoted to news editor months after arriving in Japan.

EDUCATION

Journalism, BA
San Francisco State University
Four classes shy of degree; plan to complete requirements,

Journalism, AA degree
College of Marin, Kentfield, CA