BIO
Ali was born and raised in New York. After transferring from the University of California, Santa Barbara, she began majoring in Journalism at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, with a concentration in Reporting. She graduated in May 2020, with two additional minors in Digital Studies and Theatre.
Ali is the local government reporter for the Cap Times in Madison, WI. She is interested in opportunities related to local news and arts reporting, feature writing and news editing. She previously worked as a watchdog reporter in northcentral Wisconsin, covering local and state government for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin and also as the State Captiol Intern for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
In her free time, Ali likes to write poetry, watch Audrey Hepburn films and eat macaroni and cheese (from the box).
MY RESUMÉ
JOURNALISM & COMMUNICATION EXPERIENCE
THE CAPITAL TIMES | LOCAL GOVERNMENT REPORTER
November 2021 - Present
Pitch and report on the City of Madison and Dane County local government meetings and legislation
Cover the city broadly and any intersection between life and local government, including area-hospitals and arts funding
Localize national and statewide trends to examine impact on Madison residents
USA TODAY NETWORK-WISCONSIN | GOVERNMENT WATCHDOG REPORTER
October 2020 - November 2021
Pitched, researched and reported on local government, public issues and education in Wausau and central Wisconsin
Investigated and covered government accountability across the region and state; covered August 2020 primary, November 2020 general election and April 2021 election in Wisconsin
Reported on intersection of life and news at local and state level; write features, arts, health and business stories
Selected to serve on two statewide committees for USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin: diversifying audiences and sources committee and One Wisconsin Newsroom committee
MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL | STATE CAPITOL INTERN
May 2020 - August 2020
Report on state politics from the Journal Sentinel’s Capitol Bureau
Pitch, research and write stories on state and national government, police brutality protests in Madison, and the coronavirus pandemic and its effect on the state; file FOIA requests; create strong SEO content and tags
Summer contract extended to travel to Milwaukee to report on the 2020 Democratic National Convention
ON WISCONSIN MAGAZINE | EDITORIAL INTERN
May 2019 – May 2020
Conducted archival and current research to pitch and write targeted, engaging magazine content; edited magazine pages for copy errors
Crafted and implemented social media strategy across all platforms and monitored reader engagement
THE DAILY CARDINAL | NEWS MANAGER
December 2019 - May 2020
Oversaw editors and staff of five daily news desks to internally coordinate content and edited all stories for complete news coverage and engaging writing style
Coordinated with management and other departments on content, visuals and story packaging
THE DAILY CARDINAL | CITY NEWS EDITOR
May 2019 - December 2019
Pitched and generated city and county desk content both online and in print
Wrote, assigned and edited stories using AP style under deadlines; gave assignments to staff covering local government, events and crime
THE DAILY CARDINAL | ARTS EDITOR
December 2017 – December 2018
Edited articles, organized layout of printed paper, communicated and collaborated with other newspaper desks, organized in-office performances to support local artists, wrote feature-length arts articles
Organized weekly meetings with arts writers and columnists; liaised with venue representatives to arrange event coverage
WESTCHESTER MAGAZINE | EDITORIAL INTERN
May 2018 – November 2018
Created online and print content for Westchester Homes Magazine and Westchester Weddings Magazine
Wrote stories, pitched ideas, fact-checked, conducted market work, selected images and assisted on photoshoots
THE DAILY NEXUS | STAFF WRITER & ASSISTANT ARTS EDITOR
September 2016 – June 2017
Wrote over 30 articles for both the News and Art sections in student newspaper, participated in daily pitch sessions for stories
EDUCATION
UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON
2017-2020
Bachelor of Journalism Arts
GPA: 3.71
Allison graduated from UW-Madison in May 2020. She majored in Journalism, with a concentration in Reporting and earned two certificates in Theatre and Digital Studies.
AWARDS
Spring 2016, Fall 2017,
Spring 2019, Fall 2019
DEAN'S LIST
November 2018
IRENE RYAN THEATER SCHOLARSHIP NOMINATION
Summer 2020