Michael Barbella

Helped turn fifth-rated magazines into one of the medtech industry’s most respected and top-read publications. Research, report and write feature stories for both magazines on topics related to medical device outsource manufacturing and the orthopedic device market. Write industry news briefs and company earnings reports. Supervise the layout and production of both magazines, oversee breaking news coverage and exclusive content on the magazines’ websites, post items to Twitter to further the magazines’ brand, and craft editorial coverage for the year. Manage a staff of freelance reporters and columnists. Represent the magazines at industry events and help generate the subject matter for company-sponsored conferences.

Covered hospital pharmacy for the magazine’s health-system edition, reporting on Medicare reimbursements, FDA warnings, new technology, hospital errors and industry trends. Composed special reports based on exclusive surveys conducted by the magazine; wrote daily news briefs; took photographs as needed to accompany stories; researched and wrote articles of interest to pharmacy students and technicians for the magazine’s digital edition; and generated stories exclusively for the website.
Posted daily news to the magazine’s website, checked that links to past stories and other sites worked properly; and archived past digital versions. Working knowledge of HTML code.

Researched, reported and wrote feature stories and news briefs on the implementation of mobile technology in business. Composed product reviews for new mobile devices and software; copy edited and proofread all stories in the magazine, and wrote accompanying headlines and photo captions for those stories. Helped select photos for the magazine’s cover and worked with editor to select cover lines for featured stories.
Created a weekly e-newsletter (featuring an original story, ads, whitepapers and industry events) that was emailed to 34,000 subscribers. Posted breaking news, feature stories, contributed articles and research reports on the magazine’s website.

Managed and delegated assignments to 25 reporters and photographers, coordinated daily news coverage, researched stories for broadcast, planned for future projects, monitored ongoing court cases and worked with Internet specialists to post breaking news on the station’s website.
Created daily story planner, generated story ideas for reporters and maintained updated list of station contacts. Booked satellite window time for live shots and feeds to CNN on stories of national interest.
Devised special coverage of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and 2003 war with Iraq. Served as field producer for 2000 and 2001 primary and general elections.

Handled wide range of assignments over eight years, covering municipal government, the county court system, business, breaking news and education. Won a first-place award for education writing.
Covered President Bush’s 1992 visit to North Jersey, and the pope’s 1995 visit to Newark. Worked on a freelance basis for the Associated Press, covering murder trials and major lawsuits in Passaic and Bergen counties.

Developed reporting, researching and writing skills as a municipal reporter covering local and county government.