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Curriculum Vitae

I’m an experienced marketing and communications professional, and a gold-standard NCTJ-accredited journalist (with 100WPM shorthand).

I graduated from Oxford with BA English Language and Literature in 2018. As music editor of The Indiependent – which I founded in 2014 – I’ve helped edit over 2000+ music articles. I’ve also produced three 68-page print magazines, where I was solely responsible for all the design and typesetting, as well as coordinating the printing and distribution. As a freelance journalist I’ve worked with Cosmopolitan, Metro, The Forty-Five and more.

Skills

Education

Digital Customer Experience (Level 6) – Chartered Institute of Marketing

Gold-standard NCTJ journalism diploma (100WPM shorthand) – News Associates (February 2019 – January 2020)

2:1 – BA English Language and Literature – Oxford University (2015-2018)

Experience

Real Life reporter – Press Association (January 2025-present)

• Source and write ‘Real Life’ stories
• Conduct interviews
• Transcribe and write articles
• Conduct readbacks
• Work has been published in outlets such as BBC, Independent, Mirror, Star, and Daily Mail

Founder – Steel City Strategy (October 2024-present)

• Freelance marketing & communications services including website design and copywriting, social media management and more

Get in touch to discuss working together: beth.kirkbride@steelcitystrategy.com

Marketing and communications lead – The UK Sepsis Trust
(May 2023 – October 2024)

• Managing the output of UKST’s social channels (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube)
• Creating and maintaining a social schedule, working collaboratively with teams across the charity
• Creating and maintaining a marketing campaign plan, working collaboratively with other charities on key awareness days
• Creating graphics, animation and video for use on socials
• Copywriting for a variety of purposes – from social media posts, to leaflet copy, to news articles and pitch decks
• Proofreading/sub-editing copy for website and print collateral
• Line-managing a FTE digital media officer, and freelance online community manager who oversees day to day interaction with our supporters on social media
• Setting up and managing paid ad campaigns via Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok
• Leading the ‘Sepsis Voices’ case study interview campaign – interviewing and producing multimedia case studies for sepsis survivors and the bereaved
• Organising, scripting, producing and distributing the Sepsis Voices with Dr Ron podcast
• Writing and distributing press releases and coordinating media interviews with charity spokespeople and/or case studies – particularly around Sepsis Awareness month in September, with World Sepsis Day on 13th September
• Media monitoring
• Designing and sending email communications – via Raiser’s Edge and SendInBlue/Brevo
• Designing documents in InDesign e.g. UKST’s annual report and World Sepsis Day comms packs
• Monthly performance reporting

Social media specialist – The UK Sepsis Trust
(January 2023 – May 2023)

• Managing the UK Sepsis Trust’s social accounts
• Creating and distributing content for the charity’s social media accounts (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube)
• Creating multimedia patient stories ‘Sepsis Voices’ for sharing on socials
• Coordinating and editing the ‘Sepsis Voices with Dr Ron’ podcast
• Creating and maintaining a social schedule, working collaboratively with teams across the charity

Optimisation editor – National World
(June 2022 – December 2022)

• Manage the engagement strategy for the 10 sites
• Create and publish 2x daily engagement posts for each title
• Schedule engagement content using SocialFlow and Facebook Creator Studio, including prescheduling comments
• Manage the social and publishing schedules for the ten newsbrands
• Weekly reporting on content performance and engagement analytics for the ten sites with a view to driving performance and digital growth
• Make content recommendations to editors based on said data
• Oversee homepage optimisation – giving editors in Leeds, Sheffield and Edinburgh feedback about the management of their titles twice daily (lunch time and evening)
• Provide support with push notifications and newsletter curation in cases of staff absence
• Provide training on social media for newsroom staff
• Provide training on Parse.ly and Crowdtangle for newsroom staff

Audience editor – The Star, Sheffield
(September 2021 – June 2022)

• Developing the paper’s digital strategy, with a goal of growing audience and driving subscriptions
• Attending daily news conferences to advise on content plannong, SEO and social media strategy
• Providing SEO training and guidance to all newsroom staff
• Overseeing homepage management
• Running The Star’s Instagram and LinkedIn pages
• Assisting with Facebook/Twitter management
• Managing Facebook groups for Sheffield wards (hyper local news groups)
• Curating and sending daily Sheffield Wednesday and Sheffield United newsletters
• Running a daily live news blog
• Producing and updating a weekly ‘Things to do in Sheffield’ blog
• Producing and updating a liveblog for all reader’s letters
• Producing weekly email updates on digital strategy for staff use
• Multimedia coverage of events e.g. The Star’s Small Business Awards
• Presenting and recording daily news bulletins and weekend ‘5 things to do in Sheffield next week’ bulletins

Freelance entertainment and lifestyle journalist
(2020 – September 2021)
I’ve had paid bylines with Cosmopolitan, Metro, The Forty-Five and Streaming Wars.

• Do Bridgerton’s ‘raunchy’ sex scenes actually fail the audience?
• More of us should write Do Not Want Christmas gift lists
• Taylor Swift’s ‘Evermore’ – Easter eggs, fan theories and hidden messages in TS9
• Netflix Q3 subscriber results show international markets are its key to success

Editor-in-chief – The Indiependent Magazine
(2020 – present)

I launched a print edition of The Indiependent in 2020, producing two 68-page charity editions, viewable here. We published a 72-page issue in May 2021.

Skills include:
– Project management
– Adobe InDesign
– Adobe Photoshop
– Production
– Typesetting
– Sub-editing
– Proofing
– Logistics/distribution

Founder & Music Editor – The Indiependent (online)
(2014 – present)

I established The Indiependent in 2014. I now manage the team of 20 editors and over 650 contributors, and have edited over 2000 music articles since the site launched.

Skills include:
– Editing
– Web design (HTML, CSS)
– Social media management (accumulation of 11K Twitter followers, 2K Facebook fans)
– PR relationship management
– Media law
– Handling embargoed content
– Management
– Communication

Marketing & Communications Officer – SAE Institute UK
(Jan 2019 – July 2021)

This varied role spanned copywriting, journalism, PR and communications. I wrote and coded weekly student newsletters; produced top-level management communications and crisis comms; wrote and distributed press releases; managed the alumni community, all for the four UK campuses of this international organisation.

Skills include:
– News reporting
– Feature writing
– PR relationship management
– Project management
– Social media posts
– HTML newsletters
– Interviewing
– Copywriting
– Proofreading

Freelance technology journalist – Medium
(2019 – present)

As a technology and digital culture journalist, I’ve written news and features for Medium’s in-house publication OneZero, as well as other publications including The Startup, The Writing Cooperative, gitconnected and Data Driven Investor.

News Reporter – South West Londoner
(October 2019 – December 2019)

I produced South West London news content for this local news site:

• Two Met Police officers issued written warnings after ‘concerning’ conduct in Croydon rape case
• Police arrested ten Lambeth Extinction Rebellion activists before fortnight of climate change protests
• Pilot strikes over six-figure salaries leave British Airways customers out of pocket
• Conservative mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey says to London criminals: ‘It’s me and you, bro’ 
• I’ll help more young Londoners buy their own home, vows mayoral candidate Shaun Bailey
• Care to say hello to Prince Charles? Royal greetings at Buckingham Palace garden party
• Tory councillors: Sutton Link could be derailed by ‘poor management’ of TfL finances
• William Sitwell was victim of ‘political correctness gone mad’, says vegan ex-employee

t2 – The Telegraph (Kolkata) – internship
(August 2017 – September 2017)

I produced a range of Lifestyle & Entertainment features during this month-long internship in Kolkata, India. From attending a wine-tasting function to a chocolate making workshop, from writing on Kolkata’s affinity for the English premier league to writing about the charitable actions of the Robin Hood Army on India’s Independence Day (15th August), this position gave me a breadth of experience and consolidated my interview, note-taking and copy-writing skills.

Freelance Journalist – The Telegraph (unpaid)
(February 2016 – June 2016)

As a student, I wrote two op-eds for The Telegraph:

• Let Cecil Rhodes debate fall, there are broader aims to focus on
• Young people have a right to be angry at Brexit – but not at their parents who voted Leave

Editor-in-Chief – The Oxford Student (print + online)
(June 2016 – December 2016)

I oversaw the production of eight physical issues of the newspaper, using Adobe InDesign and Photoshop. This meant subbing the finished copy, typesetting it ready for printing. I also managed the team of deputy and section editors and commissioned regular content.

Deputy editor – The Oxford Student (print + online)
(March 2016 – June 2016)

I oversaw the Music and Screen sections as the section editors commissioned and laid content for eight print editions.

Music editor – The Oxford Student (print + online)
(Jan 2016 – March 2016)

I commissioned content for the Music section, and laid eight print editions of the paper.

Deputy Music editor – The Oxford Student (print + online)
(Jan 2016 – March 2016)

This position involved writing and collecting content for the Music section, editing pieces and uploading articles to the paper’s website after eight issues of the paper had gone out.

Music journalist (voluntary) – Gigslutz
(March 2014 – December 2014)

This role involved producing music pieces – including reviews of live shows, albums, tracks and email interviews with bands. I helped the editorial team liaise with PR to organise reviews and Q&A features with bands such as Slaves.

Music journalist (voluntary) – LibertyBelle
(Jun 2014 – August 2014)

Reviewed live shows, albums, tracks and contributed to list features for the Sheffield University-affiliated online magazine. I also helped promote the launch of the website, using social media to raise awareness of the event.

Journalist – What Culture
(January 2014 – March 2014)

This role involved writing list features for What Culture, a digital entertainment website, pitching articles to an editorial team and promoting my work on social media to ensure maximum traffic.

Music editor (voluntary) – Social Sheffield
(December 2013 – April 2014)

This role involved managing social media accounts on Twitter and fostering relations with PR companies to establish the brand.