John Huotari

Reporter, Web developer, nonprofit leader

Newspaper Reporting Experience

  • 2004-Present, Stringer/City Hall Reporter, The Oak Ridger, Oak Ridge
    • Cover Oak Ridge government, including city council and planning commission, as well as politics, local U.S. Department of Energy operations, and community events and speeches.
    • Write feature, in-depth and breaking news stories on topics ranging from fires and crimes to prison overcrowding and nonprofit executive compensation.
    • Deliver news "scoops," take photographs, and edit press releases and pages.
    • Initiated the newspaper's use of video on the Web and set up a blog on local news stories.
  • Summer 2005, Intern, News Sentinel, Knoxville
    • General assignment reporting.
    • Filled in on night police beat as needed and covered 2005 shooting of correction officer in Kingston.
    • Wrote in-depth story on transportation planning in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
  • 2004-2005, Senior Writer, The (University of Tennessee) Daily Beacon, Knoxville
    • Covered UT student and faculty senates.
    • Wrote one series of stories on the increased use of lecturers to teach classes and another series on faculty, staff, and administrative compensation at UT.

Music Sales Experience

  • 1999-2001, Drum Salesman/Assistant Manager, Guitar Center, Knoxville and Denver
    • Supervised and trained employees.
    • Sold musical instruments and motivated employees to sell.
    • Was consistently one of the top drum salesmen in stores.
    • Set up merchandise displays, promoted sales, and maintained inventory.
  • 1996-1997, Drum Salesman, Pro Sound: The Musician's Superstore, Westminster, Colorado
    • Helped open new store and set up merchandise.
    • Learned how to sell and build a customer base.