Steven Manganello - Journalist Profile | Connect with top journalists

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Biography

My writing career started when I was recruited by the head of the Geology Dept. at the California State University at San Francisco, who approached me and told me, while taking a General Education Science course, "The field of Geology needs good writers like you to explain the research in the earth's chronological transitions, various seismic advances and cultural implications." This research, he said, "Can take you all over the world to learn about these discoveries..." Appreciating the complement about my writing and interested, right after our meeting, I looked into the curriculum for becoming a Geologist; and as quick as my career in the field of Geology began it was over, when I found that one of the prerequisites for getting a Bachelors in Science in Geology was two full years of calculus; math has never been my thing. Later that same semester, enrolled in another GE course, during an evaluation, my English professor told me I had a skill that was very rare. Curious that I had any academic skill at all, I asked what this skill was, and she said, "You write like you talk." A bit confused about this, I asked why this was considered a rarity, she explained because most writers are so consumed with getting their prose so grammatically tight and context so perfect, they do not express themselves on paper naturally. She Said, "When I read your writing it is as if I am having a conversation with you, and I can see your face as I read your words." With that, a writer was born; the next semester I signed up for the three journalism prerequisites courses and passed them with all A's and I decided right then and there I was going to be a journalist. I was first, a sportswriter for the school's daily newspaper covering the University's male and female soccer teams because the baseball and football beats were already assigned to upperclassmen. Now, soccer was a sport I had never really played outside of gym class, and I did not know much about the sport, So, I found myself writing lots of profiles about the players and their lives. After the soccer season, the editor gave me my own column, in which I would write features about a variety of sporting events across the San Francisco Bay Area and the people that participated in them. The following Fall, I wanted to broaden my horizons, so I joined the school's highly rated magazine: Prism Magazine, where I was again a feature writer and learned the ins and outs of how to put together a magazine from my mentor John Burks, the Journalism Department Chair and former Managing Editor of Rolling Stone Magazine. During my first semester with the magazine, I also contributed to the award-winning piece about the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, "Unreinforced Masonry Buildings," The next semester, I was to my great surprise and honor elected to become Editor and Chief of the magazine that was voted 1st overall out of 104 college monthly publications nationwide in 1994, so I had very big shoes to fill. Overseeing 40 plus writers, editors, photographers and other supporting cast members was fun but an 18 hour a day job. However, I still was able to write and contribute, winning a William Randolph Hearst award for Sports Feature Writing ("Racial inequalities in the NFL") and again, under my helm, Prism Magazine was number one in the country in 1995. Just before graduating, I was offered help by a faculty member, who was on the Universities Scholars Board to become a Rhodes Scholar candidate, which I very naively declined the offer because I worried about my student loan debt. I never said I was the sharpest tool in the shed but I did graduate with two degrees, Journalism and Sociology, in only four years with a 3.79 GPA which was not bad for a guy that was kicked out of school in 10th grade for attendance violations, because I had to work, my family needed the money, and I only was accepted into a California State University, via the school's football program, when a coach saw how big I was throwing around the ball in an Physical Education class, I just happened to be taking with a couple of other classes in the schools Extended Education Program. The coach then set me up taking, then me passing the ACT college placement test. Thank God I could catch and throw a football or who knows what my fate might have been. After graduation, I wrote for a while for a couple of small publications and then began to travel the world, I have been to 22 countries and 49 of our 50 States writing and telling stories about our great country. With a pension for travel, I soon realized the money I needed to do so was not as a writer starting out. It was in sales, so I began selling television advertising for Fox television. There, six months into the job, I was too impatient to wait for my commercials(spots) to be written and produced by the production staff, so I began doing the writing, direction and production myself, with the help of a cameraman, who was also a television engineer. From that point on at Fox, I would then produce a spot in what they told me, every time, would take four to six weeks in three days' time. After years of selling and writing television commercials, I then sold advertising and wrote copy for ads for the San Francisco Chronicle and its online publication SFGate.com, none of which I got very many bylines for but was good writing work. I became a freelance advertising writer after my son was born and his mom moved North. With a desire to be close, I followed them to Toronto, yes Canada, and wrote whatever paid the bills and still write because I enjoy having a voice in this amazing but crazy world... I share my past and my travels into writing with you all to show the road that developed me as a professional journalist and even more importantly as a person that has seen the world from many different perspectives and enjoys being both part of it and writing about its marvels. Regards, Steven D. Manganello

Content

Total articles 2

• Available on paid plans

  Next corrupt act is not far off

  By Steven Manganello Verified

  Feb. 14, 2020

• Available on paid plans

  What it's like to be an American voter in Canada

  By Steven Manganello Verified

  Nov. 01, 2016

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Company Info

Freelance

Freelancer.com is the largest freelancing and crowdsourcing marketplace in the world, connecting over 81 million employers and freelancers across more than 247 countries. Founded in 2009 and based in Sydney, Australia, the platform allows employers to post jobs while freelancers can bid on these projects. It is publicly traded on the Australian Securities Exchange under the ticker ASX:FLN. The platform supports a variety of work categories, including software development, writing, design, and marketing. Freelancer.com also offers contests for creative work, where employers can award prize money to winning entries. Users can choose from different membership plans, including free and paid subscriptions, which provide various benefits. The mobile app enhances project management and communication for users on the go. With a diverse customer base that includes individuals, small businesses, and large enterprises, Freelancer.com plays a significant role in the global online economy.