TRAVIS SMOLA
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 I've always enjoyed writing, but for the longest time I never thought about it as a career. I spent several years working retail and factory jobs before I decided that was not what I wanted out of life. I decided to go back to school. I went into journalism because I enjoy telling people's stories. The ability to combine my love of photography with my writing was also a plus. I have covered a little bit of everything: Cops and courts, commissions, people and sports. My first experience reporting for a real newspaper was with the Three Rivers Commercial-News in Three Rivers MI. 

My first full time journalism job was for the Cody Enterprise (Cody, Wyoming).  I have also been published in Mineral County Independent News (Hawthorne, Nevada), The Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Lubbock, Texas).  In addition to the news writing experience, I have also done some specialty writing. I have been published several times in FTF Geocacher Magazine, a magazine that specializes in the hobby of geocaching. I have had multiple stories and photographs published in this magazine. I've also done some specialty pieces on outdoor retail for Outdoor Magazine based out of Santa Clara, California.

Currently, I am the Senior Staff Writer for the Austin, Texas-based Wide Open Media Group. I started off writing for Wide Open Spaces as a freelancer in 2015. I worked my way up from there to a better batch writer position. I was eventually hired on as a full-time staff writer. In 2022, I was promoted to Senior Staff Writer.   

I also freelance on the side where I can with the South County News out of Vicksburg and Schoolcraft, Michigan. I do this more because I enjoy doing sports coverage for Vicksburg community schools than as an additional source of income though. I also cover education for Schoolcraft. 

Aside from outdoor writing, I probably enjoy sports reporting more than anything else. I have experience covering high school level football (11 & 6 man), volleyball, wrestling, basketball, tennis, lacrosse, bowling, soccer, track and field, cross country, baseball, softball and golf. I also covered a North American 3 Hockey League team for a while. The NA3HL is an American Tier III junior ice hockey league. 

See the below PDF files for story samples of hard news journalism. The first file is general writing from my time with the Three Rivers Commercial-News. The second is more sports-oriented things I wrote in Wyoming. The third is a mix of sports and general assignment writing.
travissmolastoryphotosamples.pdf
File Size: 5101 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

spotswritingtravissmola.pdf
File Size: 6645 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

storysamplestravissmola.pdf
File Size: 6423 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

I've also included a gallery below of some of the direct journalism-related photos I have taken. Some of these were stand alone during my internship. Some I wrote stories for. Some of these were for freelance stories I've done. 
2 vehicle car accident scene. It looked bad, but there were no injuries.
Homicide investigation scene. Sturgis, MI October, 2013
Homicide investigation scene. This was one of the first photos of the scene put on the Commercial's website.
Photo for update on city leaf pick-up in Three Rivers. It was delayed until well into December due to heavy snowfall.
My editor asked me to take photos at a ceremony at a local elementary school on Veteran's day. This shot of a man making a surprise visit to his younger brother's school made the front page the next day.
Local interest story about a man making a delivery of corn with this early 1900's truck that he restored.
Photo of Mendon High School 2-girl equestrian team. I ended up writing a story about their run to the State Championship.
Police serving a warrant on this house for a man's arrest instead ran across a small marijuana grow. This was the last thing I covered on my last day at the Commercial.
My first assignment at the Commercial was getting a photo of the local "Meals on Wheels" program making deliveries.
2014 Wolverine Conference Championship
2014 Wolverine Conference Championship
2014 Wolverine Conference Championship
2014 Wolverine Conference Championship
2014 Wolverine Conference Championship
Photo I took during St. Joseph County Fair. This image was front page the next day.
St. Joseph County Fair Photo. Was also published as a part of fair coverage.
Minor accident scene clean-up.
Action shot of pole bending for a freelance story on a saddle club.
Action sot for a freelance story on a saddle club.

Geocaching Youtube Channel

In January of 2019, I started a weekly geocaching YouTube channel to showcase my adventures in the GPS-themed hobby and to grow my video/photography skills. 
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