About
TyLisa C. Johnson is an award-winning journalist, freelance consultant, author, and creator of TCJ Studios. At the core, she's passionate about telling human stories that intersect with larger ideas about the complex issues impacting how we live.
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Work Experience
Work includes freelance reporting for publications such as The Points Guy and Carnegie Magazine, resume and cover letter consultations, website content writing for clients, audience strategy and marketing consultations, and speaking engagements.
- Manages social media profiles (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter), strategizes to share our stories, investigations and products with our readers.
- Collaborates with journalists to strategize engagement plans for stories.
- Regularly analyzes story and site performance using tools including Parse.ly and Google Analytics to inform editorial decisions
- Creates, tests, manages and strategizes to grow newsletter products.
- Creates and leads SEO strategy and newsroom efforts
- Regularly creates graphics for social & publicsource.org
- Hosts & attends events
- Speaks on radio shows and podcast about PublicSource journalism
- Enterprise beat reporter pitching and writing stories about Pittsburgh Public Schools and the surrounding 40+ school districts at the height of the COVID pandemic. Interviewed students, teachers, activists, academics and experts about developing issues from student homelessness to student surveillance.
- Conceptualized and executed an award-winning enterprise project called ‘Screen Test’ which chronicled the impacts of COVID on Pittsburgh students’ learning experience.
- Live tweeted board meetings and grew an engaged following on Pittsburgh parents. Spoke on local radio about reporting, including 90.5 WESA and CityCast Pittsburgh
- Reported general and breaking news, profiles and feature enterprises. Pitched original enterprise projects about challenges including food insecurity and youth homelessness.
- Fact-checked stories, interviewed subjects, produced original video content and created digital supplementary content, including graphics, to supplement data-driven stories.
- Built a beat of original reporting about Philadelphia's Free Library system, which revealed crumbling buildings, bias, financial challenges and changes in the city's library system. The reporting was highly-read and brought new audiences to inquirer.com. It also illuminated issues and was acknowledged by local leadership. The library saw a $3.5M funding increase and received an accountability plan for its leaders.
- Helped spearhead a solutions-oriented bi-weekly story series, Made in Philly, which spotlighted community changemakers. Established a text-based community messaging line and social media marketing plan to engage the community and increase reach.
- Sole breaking news reporter covering crimes and trends across Pasco County. Pitched stories found through sourcing, data sets and public records.
- Created, grew and managed a 'Pasco County' news Facebook group to build community engagement.
- Took photos and videos, requested public records, live-tweeted breaking news events, and created graphics and illustrations.
Writing
One year after the COVID pandemic began, how are Pittsburgh students faring?
Speaking
Spoke with WESA 90.5 about a data investigation that revealed students were still being sent to court in the pandemic for excess absences during virtual school.
Speaking with CityCast Pittsburgh about recent reporting.
Spoke about building a libraries beat at the Philadelphia Inquirer and strategies for librarians to connect with journalists and share their stories.
Awards
For this story: The strongest lifeline’: Districts struggle to find Allegheny County’s homeless students as COVID increased distance and needs. publicsource.org/homeless-stude…
Side Projects
Created this blog to catalog continued issues with The Free Library following my departure from the "library beat." Interviewed librarians, gathered data and featured interviews on blog to inform the public.
Education
Benjamin A. Gilman Scholar
Graduated summa cum laude.