Marisol D. Nunnally
Statehouse Reporter
Sioux City, IA · (712) 555 0134 · name@example.com · linkedin.com/in/marisoldnunnally
Key Qualifications
EXPERIENCE
Nine years reporting, four covering the state legislature
INDUSTRIES
Regional daily newspaper, county government, agriculture policy
SPECIALTIES
Statehouse coverage, public records requests, budget documents, source development
SYSTEMS
WordPress, Chartbeat, Google Analytics, Slack, Microsoft Excel
CREDENTIALS
Member, Society of Professional Journalists and Investigative Reporters and Editors
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Iowa State University
Results at a Glance
41
Million dollar rural
96
Open records requests
2023,
Plain language guide
310
Bylined stories
Executive Summary
Statehouse reporter with nine years in Iowa newsrooms, seven of them on government beats. Files daily from the capitol while the legislature sits and works records driven stories the rest of the year. Carries a clean corrections record, turns budget documents around fast and keeps sources who call him first.
Signature Achievements
- Broke the collapse of a 41 million dollar rural broadband grant program two weeks before the state audit landed.
- Filed 96 open records requests over three sessions and pried loose a settlement log the agency had withheld for two years.
- Wrote the paper's most read story of 2023, a plain language guide to the property tax bill that held 6 minutes 40 seconds of engaged time.
- Ran a session tracker of 180 bills that other newsrooms in the state picked up and credited.
- Published 310 bylined stories in a year across daily coverage, weekend enterprise and live blogs, with one correction of substance.
Professional Experience
Statehouse Reporter
Siouxland Daily Journal, Sioux City, IA 2021 to present
Sole capitol correspondent for a daily serving western Iowa with 46,000 print and digital subscribers.
- Covers the legislative session daily, filing two to four stories a day from floor debate, committee and the governor's office.
- Works agriculture, water quality and rural health policy through the interim, built on agency data and interviews.
- Writes and appeals public records requests to state departments and tracks response deadlines in a shared sheet.
- Verifies every quote and figure against a document or a second source before filing, following Associated Press style.
- Writes headlines for search and for the homepage, then checks performance in Chartbeat and revises weak ones the same day.
County Government Reporter
Cherokee County Chronicle, Le Mars, IA 2018 to 2021
Two reporter newsroom covering four rural counties and their boards of supervisors.
- Covered supervisor meetings, county budgets, zoning fights and the sheriff's office.
- Reported a series on a landfill contract that ended with the board rebidding the work.
- Shot and edited short video from meetings and scenes in Adobe Premiere for the website.
General Assignment Reporter
Plymouth County Press, Akron, IA 2016 to 2018
Weekly paper covering schools, courts, business and community news across one county.
- Filed six to eight stories a week on schools, city council and local business.
- Built the paper's first election night live coverage and results page.
Licensure and Certification
Member, Society of Professional Journalists, Iowa chapter
Member, Investigative Reporters and Editors
Education
Bachelor of Arts in journalism, Iowa State University, 2016
Investigative Reporters and Editors annual conference, data reporting track, 2022 and 2024
Core Skills
Statehouse reporting · Public records requests · Budget analysis · Source development · Associated Press style · Fact checking · Live blogging · Search focused headlines · WordPress · Chartbeat · Microsoft Excel