SEAN H. HOLSTEGE

 (602) 421-3340

seanholstege@cox.net

 

 

EMPLOYMENT:  

 

Position: Founder, CEO (2017 to present)

Employer: Wordslinger LLC (Phoenix, AZ)

Accomplishments: Started freelance business to cover a variety of crime, court, breaking news, transportation and general
interest stories for The Phoenix New Times, and other emerging clients. Published and produced “Hot Nights, Cold Trails”
unsolved murders documentary. Produced audio, photographic, video and written content for unsolved murders coverage and
for clients, including The Boston Globe's Spotlight Team, The Australian and News Corp Australia. Researched Arizona's
prosecutors for a yearlong investigation. Won national beat coverage award for crime reporting.

 

Position: Senior Reporter, Weekend Breaking News Editor (2006 to 2016)

Employer: The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, AZ)

Beats: Transportation, Pinal County, breaking news, courts, the border and special breaking news or investigative assignments as needed.

Accomplishments: Team player, often counted on in big breaking news situations. Key contributor in Yarnell Hill Fire and Tucson Shooting, resulting in Pulitzer finalist submissions for breaking news. Developed storytelling knack on such stories as Loughner profile, the Child Protective Services series, Hoover Dam Bridge and more. Appeared on CNN, PBS NewsHour and more.

 

Position: Adjunct Professor (2011 to Present)

Employer: Arizona State University, Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Duties: Teach journalism at all levels

Accomplishments: Taught and mentored students in classes ranging from basic introduction to advanced in-depth project reporting. Tapped to redesign and teach graduate “boot camp” curriculum. Created and hosted online video lectures for introductory classes. Judged professional newspaper contests.

 

 

Position: Regional Transportation Reporter (1999 to 2006)

Employer: The Oakland Tribune (Oakland, CA)

Beats: Transportation 

Accomplishments: Led coverage of 9/11 and its aftermath. Won national Sigma Delta Chi award for documenting misspent homeland security grants. Led state coverage of Bay Bridge fiasco in a hyper-competitive market. Won investigative awards for exposing workplace and work quality dangers on Bay Bridge construction. Covered all forms of transportation. Regularly appeared on numerous Bay Area television and radio broadcasts. Nominated twice for a Pulitzer for Bay Bridge and Homeland Security investigations.

 

 

Position: City Reporter (1995 to 1999)

Employer: The Tri-Valley Herald (Pleasanton, CA)

Beat: City of Livermore.

Accomplishments: Won a series of awards for investigations, explanatory news and feature writing.

 

Position: City Reporter (1994 to 1995)

Employer: The Dispatch (Gilroy, CA)

Beat: City Hall

Accomplishments: Specialized in politics and development issues

 

Position: Senior News Reporter (1992 to 1994)

Employer: East Bay (Phoenix) Journal (Oakland, CA)

Beat: Fire recovery, city hall

Accomplishments: Provided in-depth coverage of disaster preparedness, fire safety and insurance issues stemming from 1991 East Bay Hills Fire. Gave specialty publication prominence.

 

Position: Researcher (1991 to 1992)

Employer: Mother Jones (San Francisco, CA)

Duties: Re-report cover stories to confirm accuracy of copy. Research and author briefs.

 

Position: Beat Reporter (1986 to 1987)

Employer: Berkeley Tri-City Post (Oakland, CA)

Duties: Police and fire beats in Berkeley and surrounding suburbs.

 

Position: General Assignment Reporter (1984 to 1985) 

Employer: Daily Californian (Berkeley, CA)

Duties: General assignment for a local college daily.

 

 

EDUCATION:

 

Arizona State University

Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications

Master’s Degree in Journalism, 2016

Honors: Graduated magna summa laude

Ethics and Excellence in Journalism Foundation Fellow on News21’s “Voting Wars” project. Stories on voter purges and voting fraud appeared in national media, including the Washington Post and NBC.  Reported, wrote and directed “Hot Nights, Cold Trails” project, a video documentary and long-form investigative article analyzing patterns in 195,000 unsolved murders.

 

 

University of California at Berkeley

College of Letters and Sciences

B.A. in Psychology, 1989

B.A. in Social Sciences, 1989

Self-designed course of study, emphasizing Political Science, Sociology and Rhetoric. Senior Thesis: The Iran Contra Affair: America Faces a New Reality.

 

American School in London

Graduated  1984

Honors: Editor, ASL Standard, 1983; Honor Roll 1982; National Merit Letter of Commendation 1984; Honors U.S. History, Spanish, Math, Physics and Chemistry; Varsity Soccer 1981-83, JV Soccer 1979-80.

​

​