PEYTON BIGORA
Welcome to my Portfolio
ABOUT PEYTON
Peyton is currently a staff reporter for Grocery Dive, a publication under Industry Dive, with beats focusing on specialty grocers, retail media, organized retail crime and heath & wellness. Currently residing in Washington, D.C., she is originally from Long Island, New York.
Peyton graduated from American University in May 2022, receiving a BA in journalism and completing minors in political science and creative writing. During her time in AU’s School of Communications, she focused her reporting mostly on education, social justice, the LGBTQ+ community, Washington politics and other facets of local news. She took up those beats through her Reporting, Advanced Reporting, Feature Article Writing, Race/Ethnic Community Reporting classes as well as her Journalism Capstone.
Peyton served as Her Campus American’s editor-in-chief from May 2021 to May 2022 and was part of the campus publication throughout her four years at AU. As a freshman, she started as a feature writer and, by her second semester that year, was promoted to section editor. She was promoted once again to managing editor at the start of her sophomore year and held that position until taking on the lead role of editor-in-chief. Peyton was also a staff writer at AU's student newspaper, The Eagle, during her freshman year.
From January to June 2020, Peyton was an intern at Voice of America's News Center Hub. In their office for 10-plus hours every week, she wrote a variety of news stories used by VOA language services and the English website. In addition to writing international and domestic news, she pitched original enterprise story ideas, assisted in research and conducted interviews. Her articles are published under both her own byline or the byline "VOA News."
Aside from reporting, Peyton hopes to continue traveling, exploring and writing about her experiences. When she’s not writing, you can find her either reading with a cup of tea or at a local bookstore.
JOURNALISTIC WORK
Philip L. Graham
Former Washington Post President and Publisher
"Journalism is the first rough draft of history."
RESUME
Peyton Bigora
https://peytonbigora.wixsite.com/website ž peytonlbigora@gmail.com ž (631)561-5381
EDUCATION
American University, Bachelors of the Arts Communications: Journalism, Washington, D.C. May 2022
Minors in Political Science and Creative Writing
School of Communication Dean’s List Scholar
Dean’s List Scholarship Recipient
JOURNALISM EXPERIENCE
Industry Dive, Washington, D.C. July 2022-Present
Staff Reporter, Grocery Dive
-
Write 4-5 quick-turn news briefs a week and 3-4 feature articles/Deep Dives a month centering on the grocery industry. Assist with breaking news and in-depth analysis pieces.
-
Developed beats focusing on specialty grocers, retail media, organized retail crime and health & wellness and take lead on projects and coverage centering those topics.
-
Present pitches, build industry sources and work on editing and production for the website and daily newsletter. Post all coverage on Grocery Dive’s social media accounts.
​
Her Campus American, Washington, D.C.
Editor in Chief May 2021-May 2022
-
Managed a 75-plus person team including five executive and editorial branches in addition to general members to
ensure Her Campus Nationals requirements were met to maintain the Elite Level chapter status— indicating we were in
the top five percent of chapters.
-
Edited all content published on the website and in the twice-yearly original print magazine Collegiette.
-
Held weekly executive board meetings and general meetings. Created and organized publication’s budget as well as purchasing, planed and hosted events, worked with Student Media Board, and oversaw social media platforms.
Managing Editor August 2019-May 2021
-
Presented article pitches at weekly general meetings. Oversaw Section Editors and up to 50 writers as well as edited the work of 20 assigned reporters.
-
Responsible for pitching, creating and editing the monthly Editors’ Blog.
Section Editor January-August 2019
-
Presented article pitches at weekly general meetings and edited the work of up to 20 writers assigned to me.
Feature Writer August-December 2018
-
Contributed original content and articles to the official HCAU website and wrote articles for each edition of Collegiette.
​
Student Media Board, Washington, D.C. May 2021-May 2022
Board Member
-
Worked with other American University Student Media Organizations on budgeting, large-scale events, and journalism ethics.
-
Attended monthly meetings as well as bi-weekly individual meetings with Student Media Board’s faculty advisor.
​
Voice of America, Washington, D.C.
News Center Hub Reporting Intern January-June 2020
-
Covered international and domestic news stories used by the VOA language services and the English website.
-
Pitched original story ideas.
-
Assisted in research and conducted interviews for stories being worked on by fellow VOA reporters.
​
The Eagle, Washington, D.C.
Life Section Contributing Writer August 2018-May 2019
-
Report and cover on-campus and local D.C. events to be featured on The Eagle website.
GENERAL WORK EXPERIENCE
-
Writer, The School of the New York Times, New York City, NY July-August 2017
-
Instructor, Amore Learning, Washington, D.C. January-June 2022
RELEVANT COURSE PROJECTS
-
Race/Ethnic & Community Reporting: Wrote a news story, business/economic story, policy story, and
long-form enterprise story for the beat LGBTQ+ Businesses in Washington.
-
Advanced Reporting: Cultivated an original beat—LGBTQ+ Education in Washington—and reported on it, including two
beat stories and a profile piece.
-
Digital Skills: Coded an original portfolio website using HTML and CSS Style.
-
Journalism Capstone: Covered book banning and its effects on education and the publishing industry.
SKILLS
-
Computer: HTML and CSS Style coding; Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
-
Social Media: LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook, Snapchat, TikTok
-
Photography: Nikon; film and digital mediums; Adobe Photoshop
