Kara Coleman Fields

Experience

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  Scholarships.com

  May 2011 - Aug 2012

  Blogger

  From summer 2011 through summer 2012, I was one of Scholarships.com's "virtual interns." I wrote about topics ranging from quirky majors to how to stay sharp over summer break to changes to ACT security.

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  The Chanticleer

  May 2012 - May 2014

  Editor-in-Chief

  During my junior and senior years of college, I served as editor-in-chief of The Chanticleer, the weekly student newspaper at Jacksonville State University, after serving brief stints as a staff writer and then as arts and entertainment editor. I worked with my team of fellow student journalists to plan each issue, write and edit stories, take photos, and build the pages using Adobe InDesign while coordinating with the press operators at The Anniston Star to meet their deadline for printing our paper each week. I also uploaded an e-edition to the web each week, and worked with the university to help the paper have more of an online presence.The Chanticleer won a 2012 Mark of Excellence Award from the Society of Professional Journalists, clinching third place in the Best All-Around Non-Daily Student Newspaper (Medium) category for Region 3. I was recognized as a finalist in the General Column Writing (Small) category for Region 3 in SPJ's 2013 Mark of Excellence Awards. Show less

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  The Anniston Star

  Aug 2012 - Nov 2012

  Prep Football Correspondent

  Each Friday night during the 2012 football season, I worked as a stringer covering high school games in Calhoun County, Alabama. I took stats during games, interviewed each team's head coach afterward and wrote a game story on a tight Friday night deadline for the Saturday morning print edition.

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  The Anniston Star

  Jul 2013 - May 2014

  Page Designer

  During my senior year at Jacksonville State University, I worked part-time as a page designer at The Anniston Star newspaper. In that role, I was part of the team that used Adobe InDesign to build pages for the next day's paper, including selecting stories from the Associated Press wire as well as using content from staff reporters to build local pages. I also published a few articles with The Star, including two for its periodic Healthy Living section.

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  Connection Newspapers / Local Media Connection

  May 2014 - Aug 2014

  Intern

  The summer after I graduated from college, I worked as an intern for Connection Newspapers, a group of hyper-local weekly papers in northern Virginia and Potomac, Maryland. I wrote feature stories, took photos, and helped proofread pages and compile a weekly events calendar for the various publications under the Connection umbrella.I was among the team members recognized with a first place 2014 Virginia Press Association award for Lifestyle or Entertainment Pages for our work on the Alexandria Gazette Packet. Show less

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  The Daily Herald Columbia, TN

  Aug 2014 - Jun 2017

  I was hired as the crime, court and public safety reporter for The Daily Herald, a six-day-a-week local newspaper in Maury County, Tennessee, and was promoted to news editor a few months later. As news editor, my responsibilities included managing a team of reporters, planning the news and lifestyles sections of each issue, editing articles and columns, writing articles and columns, taking photos and building pages using Adobe InDesign. I also sent content to the publication's website, and updated developing content on the website and social media as needed. In addition to the paper, I also was responsible for planning and designing special sections, including a monthly Healthy Living insert. Show less

  • News Editor

    Mar 2015 - Jun 2017

  • Reporter

    Aug 2014 - Mar 2015
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  The Associated Press

  Nov 2014 - Nov 2014

  Election Stringer

  I was a freelance stringer for The Associated Press on midterm election night in 2014. As votes were counted from each precinct in Maury County, Tennessee, I called the AP to report updated numbers from the county.

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  Opelika-Auburn News

  Jun 2017 - Jul 2019

  I joined the Opelika-Auburn News team in 2017 as a reporter primarily covering Auburn University news. I retained much of that beat when I was promoted to news editor of the true daily in 2018, including covering board of trustees meetings and writing about construction projects, state funding and other issues that affected the campus community. As news editor, I also was responsible for budgeting content for the A section of the paper and worked with a third-party designer to fill the pages. I managed a team of reporters and edited their stories, wrote stories and took photos myself, scheduled content to publish to the Opelika-Auburn News website and monitored trending content on the site using Parse.ly. I also worked on special projects, including managing the newspaper's 2019 Progress edition, which examined the community's growth over the previous year. During my time at the Opelika-Auburn News, a piece I wrote about ocular melanoma cases was recognized by the Alabama Press Association with a second-place award for Best In-Depth News Coverage among newspapers in its size division. The following year, a piece I co-wrote with my husband, Scott Fields, about student-athletes at Auburn University and The University of Alabama helping rebuild homes after a tornado won third place for Best News Feature Story Coverage in the Alabama Press Association awards. As a whole, our staff received an Alabama Press Association award for Best Public Service in our division for coverage of the deadly March 3, 2019, tornado in Lee County, Alabama. Show less

  • News Editor

    Jul 2018 - Jul 2019

  • Reporter

    Jun 2017 - Jul 2018
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  U.S. News & World Report

  Jul 2019 - Sept 2024

  Editor, Advice Products

  I was part of the Advice Products team, which operates under the larger Consumer Advice umbrella at U.S. News & World Report. In this role, I wrote, edited and fact-checked consumer-focused content aimed at helping readers make informed decisions about things like money, real estate, college and careers. I also recruited freelancers for various assignments and focused on writing for SEO, refreshing content to keep it up to date, and thinking about the needs and wants of an article’s intended audience. My work with freelancers included finding and recruiting, onboarding and assigning, editing and fact-checking, and submitting invoices to payroll.I regularly worked with stakeholders across the company including producers, data analysts, SEO leads, editors, general managers and public relations specialists. I also aided U.S. News in its quest to incorporate more first-person experience into its pieces by sourcing quotes from college students about what it’s like to major in fields such as linguistics, mechanical engineering or public policy for updates to U.S. News’ college major guides. Projects I worked on at U.S. News include Best Places to Live, Best Jobs, SkillBuilder, credit cards and loans product pages, and guides to college majors and online degrees. I also helped write the methodology for U.S. News’ inaugural Best Companies to Work For list, which launched in 2023. I also helped edit the methodology pages for U.S. News education products including Best Colleges, Best Online Programs, Best Graduate Schools and Best Global Universities. In Q4 of 2023, I was part of the team that received the company’s Excellence award for our work on the Best Companies to Work For product. My work on this project included collaborating with other stakeholders to write and refine the methodology as this new product expanded throughout the year – to include introducing a category for law firms – as well as writing new copy for the Best Companies landing page. Show less

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  Forbes Advisor

  Sept 2024 - now

  Lead Editor, Education

  I write, edit, fact-check and publish content for the Education vertical at Forbes Advisor. I regularly collaborate with my editorial, SEO and data teammates to create written content such as online program rankings and how-to articles about college and careers.My team is fully remote, so I work with colleagues across time zones and across the world.