William W. Lager

I work in the space where data, journalism, visual storytelling, audience engagement, product and design meet, and build the bridges that link them together. My work creates connection, invokes wonder, discovery and understanding of our world and each other. I won some awards for it.

I am a science and tech nerd that loves the outdoors. I delight in finding out how things work, and then sharing what I learn. Each time I visit a body of water I need to flip over the rocks to examine what kinds of creatures are there, a trait I picked up from choldhood trips collecting insects.

As a mission-oriented journalist, I work to improve our communities through building understanding, wonder and tangible impact by engaging our communities on their terms. My work has maintained an emphasis on engaging and serving communitites marginalized, ignored or underserved by traditional media.

I am a consummate generalist working across content to process to product to audience and back. On a given project I could be a writer, editor, producer, coder, project manager, facilitator or trainer. I am able to nimbly and empathetically work with colleagues and the public to translate needs and aspirations into usable realities.

From large scale packaged projects to stand-alone stories I collaborate with teams, often balancing multiple teams at once, facilitating our shared success. Each of these endeavours relied upon skills gained via my experience outside of journalism, from welding jobs to community organizing. Each adding to the tapestry of skills employed to build bridges with audiences as participants.

I am an active member of the OpenNews community and a volunteer with the DEI Coalition for Anti-Racist, Equitable, and Just Newsrooms.

Before turning to journalism, I engaged in community organizing, training and more as a non-profit adminstrator for various non-profits.

A full resume may be found on Linkedin and a list of skills may be found here.