Christian Abbott
Sheffield,South Yorkshire
Summary
Career goal: to continue delivering a high standard of journalism and building my skills as a reporter
Accomplished journalist with a proven background in delivering strong copy to a high standard. Known for being versatile, having worked across multiple roles as a reporter. Reliable, efficient, and known for producing work quickly with little need for oversight. Media Law 1 & 2 qualified with experience across live news reporting, local news coverage, national news, crime, sports, politics, entertainment, culture, events.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
Work History
Audience Writer / What's On Reporter
Birmingham Live
Birmingham, West Midlands
02.2025 - Current
- As an Audience Writer I used Google Analytics, social media, and Google Trends to source stories of high interest to the West Midlands
- Produced unique, high-quality stories daily that engaged audiences and met editorial standards
- Achieved highest click-through rates consistently across Birmingham Live, driving significant audience engagement
- As a What's On Reporter I delivered exclusive content for the region via interviews and first looks
- Featured regularly in the Birmingham Mail, including the front page slashes.
Public Relations Executive
Scala
Sheffield, South Yorkshire
11.2023 - Current
- Assist and manage PR campaigns for the legal, healthcare, and professional sectors. Attend court hearings, manage press engagement, and secure press interviews – regional and national.
- Offering clients media training for press interviews, how to engage with journalists and share their stories to the maximum potential.
- Cultivated relationships with key media outlets, resulting in media placements and improving the credibility of client narratives with over 100 unique links in media coverage with over one million referral linkbacks.
- Managed crisis communication strategies that mitigated potential public relations disasters.
- Designed engaging press releases and media kits that led to a significant rise in positive media coverage, directly contributing to the company's goals.
SEO Strategist
Northern Media
04.2023 - 10.2023
- Developed SEO-focused content marketing campaigns for clients in the South Yorkshire region.
- Utilising search tools such as SEMrush, Google Search Console, Screaming Frog and Ahrefs.
- Working with various clients on content strategy.
- Developed effective SEO strategies for a variety of clients, resulting in an average of 25% increase in organic search traffic.
Digital PR Executive
XL Media
11.2022 - 12.2022
- Helping to manage three clients (bet365, Freebets, Caziwoo). Producing eye-catching and informative press releases.
- Working on clients, including bet365's Fan Nation Survey campaigns.
- Building relationships with clients and journalists in both national and regional press. Mailouts on Cision and Mail Merge.
SEO TV Reporter
Express.co.uk
12.2021 - 12.2022
- Using Google Trends, Analytics and social media to source unique stories and track searches around certain topics to drive traffic to Express.co.uk.
- Conducting interviews to deliver exclusive content ahead of competitors and delivering data-led articles.
- Sub-editing copy to ensure it was legally sound and engaging, resulting in traffic being diverted from the homepage of Express.co.uk to my work and the relevant TV pages.
Freelance Reporter
Daily Star
10.2022 - 11.2022
- Using my skills and knowledge to work across the news, showbiz and TV desks of dailystar.co.uk.
- Engaging in daily conferences across the desks to generate story lists, following up on stories from rival outlets, finding a unique spin which would be on brand for the Daily Star, as well as finding a new exclusive line and producing this to maximise the potential of the story being ripped by external publications, resulting in link backs and driving more traffic to the site.
- Producing six stories per shift and using images, video and social media tools to boost engagement and recirculation, as well as using the likes of Reddit and Facebook to draw in new audiences.
- Edited and proofread stories for accuracy and clarity.
SEO Writer
Daily Star and Daily Mirror
05.2022 - 10.2022
- Using tools such as Google Trends, Analytics, social media and Hive Alpha to deliver six engaging stories per shift across both mirror.co.uk and dailystar.co.uk.
- Sub-edited copy of both myself and my colleagues to ensure that there were no inaccuracies and the copy was legally safe before being published on both sites.
- Ensured copy was visually engaging by using imagery and video to attract the reader and boost recirculation traffic across the sites to other relevant stories.
Entertainment Reporter
Express.co.uk
01.2022 - 04.2022
- Using industry tools to deliver exclusive content through interviews with talent on press tours.
- Maximising Google and social media trends to determine which interviews to secure to get ahead of rivals and make the most of trending topics.
- Delivering engaging headlines to display on the Express.co.uk homepage. Self-editing to ensure content was legally ok to go live and was accurate.
Group Marketing Executive
Searchlight Group
10.2019 - 10.2020
- Utilising Yoast SEO for better search on the website.
- Regularly sending out newsletters to over 10,000 industry insiders on Mail Chimp.
- Organising client events including a get together at the Royal Opera House in London. Managing a blog for weekly updates to candidates.
- Posting across social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Writing job adverts and specs for candidates.
Audience Writer
MailOnline
03.2023
- Writing legally sound and engaging visual copy for dailymail.co.uk – producing six stories per shift.
- Utilising social media tools and Google Trends to find unique stories ahead of rival publications.
- Using social media to drive traffic back to the site with engaging social media sells, headlines and social imagery.
Education
Master of Arts - Multimedia Journalism
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield, SHF01-2019
Bachelor of Arts - Film Studies
Sheffield Hallam University
Sheffield01-2018
Skills
- Interviewing
- Sourcing exclusives
- Live news coverage
- Quick turnaround on copy
- SEO writing
- Google Analytics
- Google Trends
- Media Law 1 & 2
- SEMrush
- Google Search Console
- Screaming Frog
- Subediting copy
- Ahrefs
Timeline
Audience Writer / What's On Reporter
Birmingham Live
02.2025 - Current
Public Relations Executive
Scala
11.2023 - Current
SEO Strategist
Northern Media
04.2023 - 10.2023
Audience Writer
MailOnline
03.2023
Digital PR Executive
XL Media
11.2022 - 12.2022
Freelance Reporter
Daily Star
10.2022 - 11.2022
SEO Writer
Daily Star and Daily Mirror
05.2022 - 10.2022
Entertainment Reporter
Express.co.uk
01.2022 - 04.2022
SEO TV Reporter
Express.co.uk
12.2021 - 12.2022
Group Marketing Executive
Searchlight Group
10.2019 - 10.2020
Master of Arts - Multimedia Journalism
Sheffield Hallam University
Bachelor of Arts - Film Studies
Sheffield Hallam University