David Banks
I've worked as an editor, reporter and Web producer in the tote-bag sector of the economy (six years at NPR, currently at American Public Media) since the turn of the millenium. For the past three years, I've also worked as an adjunct professor at USC, teaching introduction to Web design and production.
I rode the Internet bubble economy as an independent Web consultant for clients such as Knight Ridder, TechTV and a fun but long-defunct Web project in Dublin, Ireland.
And before that, I worked as an editor/producer for Cox Interactive in Orange County and San Francisco. Educated? After a fashion... After earning a B.A. in English literature (with a minor in surfing) from UC Santa Cruz (go Slugs!), I began my career as a freelance journalist, with day jobs as a chef and office furniture salesman to actually pay the bills.
I earned my Master's degree in journalism at USC and spent the next eight years working for a variety of newspapers (including The Los Angeles Times and the Torrance Daily Breeze), magazines and wire services as an editor, writer and producer.
In 1993, I was part of an early multimedia venture for Reuters that proved to be a groundbreaking experiment in daily interactive journalism. I earned my chops in information architecture, HTML, high-end graphics and animation at a boutique media company named REZN8 in Hollywood.
While I'm not a religious person, I sometimes pray to the Spaghetti Monster for the following:
• a decent south swell
• lots of snow at Mammoth Mountain
• that my boat won't sink
• more sleep
