Sarah Cahalan

Freelance Writer & Editor

2014 - Present

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Though I've freelanced intermittently throughout my career, my current clients include Travel + Leisure, National Geographic, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Michigan. My freelance work includes writing, editing, and research.

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Senior Editor, Chicago Council on Global Affairs

February 2024 - November 2024

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Edited various content for the Council and its now-shuttered editorial arm, Blue Marble, including videos, podcasts, and written content like ChicagoGlobal, a weekly newsletter with 100,000 subscribers.​

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Quality Team Editor, Travel + Leisure

February 2023 - February 2024

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Edited published web stories, ensuring evergreen readability and optimizing for search keywords, and assisted with fact-checking for flagship print projects like the World's Best Awards.

Reporter, New York Times

April 2020 - May 2023

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Worked on the coronavirus tracking team, compiling municipal, state, and tribal data on COVID cases around the United States and tracking case clusters linked to nursing homes and workplaces.

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Associate Editor, Notre Dame Magazine

October 2017 - August 2019

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Wrote and edited news and feature stories for quarterly print magazine and oversaw web coverage, composing and editing articles and maintaining a roster of regular contributors.

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Assistant Editor, New Hampshire Magazine

March 2016 - October 2017

 

Maintained layout, oversaw web coverage schedule, managed interns, edited all submitted freelance copy, and wrote regular department and feature stories for both print and web, including several cover stories.

 

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Contributor, 5280

January 2016 - April 2018

 

Composed weekly Best Bets events e-newsletter and served as research editor for 5280 Traveler 2016, in addition to general fact-checking assistance.

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Editorial Intern, 5280

August 2015 - January 2016

 

Fact-checked stories of all lengths, liaising in the process with sources that ranged from homeless mothers to TV actors and the mayor of Denver. Contributed regular stories to print and web, amassing more than 40 bylines during six-month internship term. 

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Writer, Lovin Dublin

December 2014 - July 2015

 

Contributed bi-weekly lifestyle and humor stories to Ireland's largest lifestyle blog, including "34 Things That Have Surprised Me Since I Moved to Dublin," which was one of the site's top-performing stories of 2015. Served as the site's primary food critic, composing 2-4 restaurant reviews per month.

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