07704 622 661
Games Journalist
Joshua Boyles
About Me
Hi there! I'm a BA Broadcast Journalism graduate with First Class Honours and BJTC accreditation. I currently work for Social Chain across both the GameByte and FragHero brands.
I am a proficient copywriter with hundreds of news articles published across a variety of outlets, particularly catering to the 18 to 34-year-old bracket. My day to day role includes writing news, reviews, guides, and features for both of our brands. I also sub-edit all editorial pieces on FragHero and use website analytics to best coordinate our editorial approach.
My training primarily lies in multimedia and broadcast: I am comfortable with packaging news content for Online, TV, and Radio. I am also well versed in SEO and capable of writing articles with this in mind.
I completed three years of superb experience at the University of Salford, taking part in several news days in which we operated in a live news environment. I was able to achieve First Class Honours for my work at Salford where I wrote a dissertation that critically analysed the BBC's reporting of the games industry in comparison to the news website Eurogamer.
This website serves as a portfolio of my work. Do you have a story? Are you looking to commission a news article, feature, guide or review? I'm open to work! Please get in touch via the links provided.
Professional History
Work Experience
Social Chain - Staff Writer/Junior Website Editor
July 2021 - Present
Work alongside Website Editor to prepare content strategies for both GameByte and FragHero.
Oversee editorial output for FragHero, managing freelancers and sub-editing pieces.
Write a variety of News, Reviews, Guides and Feature content for both of our brands.
Responsible for presenting and analysing website analytics on a weekly basis.
Responsible for social posting on GameByte and FragHero Facebook pages.
Liaise with other members of the gaming team to best plan our daily content approach.
Attend regular events to provide live coverage and conduct interviews.
Capable of working from both home and the Manchester based office.
Social Chain - Freelance Journalist
March 2021 - July 2021
Demonstrated ability to source relevant news stories for the FragHero brand.
Write news articles in a timely manner, in a style consistent with the young adult audience.
Write with SEO in mind, ensuring that the Yoast grade is always green before publishing.
Proficient in working with WordPress CMS, publishing and scheduling posts.
Regularly pitch new guides and features for the site.
Capable of adapting writing style to fit different article types.
Demonstrated punctual ability to work with a team remotely.
Established contacts with games industry PR and other journalists.
Demonstrated excellent background knowledge of the games industry, specifically with regards to FPS, Action, RPG, and esports titles.
Salford Now - Broadcast Journalist
September 2017 - July 2020
Sourced numerous news stories from around the local area of Salford.
Developed and maintained a strong contacts list of people in Salford.
Demonstrated and developed interviewing skills.
Presented live news broadcasts across TV and Radio.
Demonstrated and developed skills in filming and producing high-quality news packages for TV and Radio.
Worked closely and efficiently with a large newsroom team to produce news content in a live publishing environment.
Worked through the night to cover the 2019 General Election - attended a Counting Hall and co-ordinated a team to produce a night of live reporting.
Hexham Courant - Reporter Intern
October 2019
Worked alongside industry professionals to source and present local news in both Print and Online formats.
Sourced and covered my own story to accrue a byline.
Formatted press release copy into articles suitable for publication.
7Dnews - Writer, Editor and Voice Overs
October 2018 - April 2019
Pitched and produced several video features about the gaming industry.
Produced voice-overs for social media news content in a timely manner.
Assisted in filming and interviewing for breaking news stories.
Demonstrated extensive skills in the Adobe Creative Cloud Suite, primarily Premiere Pro, Audition, After Effects and Photoshop.
Worked remotely from Manchester.
Worked from the London Office.
The Co-operative - Customer Team Member
September 2019 - Present
Worked as part of a diverse team to maintain all aspects of the store.
Trained Baker - regularly start at 6am to bake morning goods.
Contracted part-time though consistently take on overtime alongside my studies at University.
Member of the Colleague Voice team, bringing forward colleague concerns to management.
Assist in promoting the store’s development and charity work on local social media.
Tesco - Customer Assistant
June 2016 - February 2019
Worked as part of multiple large and small teams to maintain various departments.
Main responsibility was to keep the shelves replenished with stock and assist customers.
Ensured that damaged or out of code stock was reduced down to a lower price for customers to buy.
Worked in nearly all of the departments at Tesco including Produce, Bakery, Plant Bread, Provisions Cabinet, Stock Control, Checkouts, Non-Food, Grocery, Warehouse and Trolleys.
Transferred to Tesco Salford during University and worked as part of the teams there.
Highlights
EGX 2021 Developer Interviews - GameByte
October 2021
I attended EGX 2021 in a solo capacity for GameByte, experiencing hands-on with upcoming games and interviewing several senior game developers.
Two of my favourite interviews came from Joe Walsh at MediaTonic and Edouard Imbert at Larian Studios. It was a delight to speak to these developers who were clearly so passionate about the games they work on.
Through my interview technique, I was able to obtain an exclusive angle for our Fall Guys interview. Walsh explained that the team would like to implement a Squid Game crossover to Fall Guys, an incredibly popular Netflix show at the time. This exclusive angle drove heavy traffic to our site and resulted in our story getting picked up by other outlets.
FragHero Freelancing - Social Chain
March 2021 - July 2021
I worked in a freelance capacity for Social Chain on its FragHero brand. The site focuses on FPS and Action games with an additional focus on esports.
My daily responsibilities include working with my editor to source relevant news stories for the day. These are then written up in a timely capacity. I write with SEO and our conversational style guide in mind.
I am also responsible for pitching several guides and features throughout the week. These are to bolster our content output throughout the weekend.
I have made fantastic contacts while writing for Social Chain and used this to further my position at the company.
PIXEL Magzine - University Assignment
November 2019
One of the assignments for my Broadcast Journalism BA degree tasked me with creating a 12-page magazine from scratch. I chose to theme my magazine on the games industry, targetted towards 16-25-year-olds who are knowledgeable about the games industry but are looking for wider knowledge.
I wrote the copy for the main feature and news article of the document, as well as the review of Ring Fit Adventure. The rest of the copy is taken from relevant news publications and subbed to fit by me. All sources were cited in the rational document included with my submission.
The document was edited used Adobe InDesign which I am proficient in using. This assignment taught me a great deal about writing features and reviews. I also learned of the importance of audience and how writing styles should change accordingly to accommodate them.
'Everyone Can' charity enables disabled children to play games - Salford Now
December, 2018
As part of a Broadcast Journalism Assignment, I was tasked with creating a short television package to be aired on the Salford University TV news programme, Salford Now.
I learned of a charity based in Sale, Manchester, that enabled disabled young people to access video games via new technology and communal gaming nights. I attended one of these events and interviewed the manager, Paul Sullivan, as well as some of the attending children.
This opportunity enabled me to practice my skills as a camera operator and allowed me to demonstrate an ability to set up and conduct an interview without assistance.
The shooting conditions proved challenging as the environment was very dark, however, I am happy with the final result. I received a 68% mark for this assignment.
2019 General Election Overnight Coverage - Salford Now
December 2019
I spent the evening of 12th December 2019 co-ordinating Salford Now's live coverage of the count. I was responsible for setting up and filming live pieces to the camera every hour from 10PM through to 3AM, as well as filming them separately on an AC90 camera.
I was also responsible for filming GVs and interviews with each of the party candidates. I prided myself in getting this footage back to the Newsroom as quickly as possible via effective communication with my team.
Once finished at the counting hall, I also managed to produce a Radio Package which summarised the events of the evening. I'm incredibly proud of the piece as it was produced in under two hours after being awake for nearly 24 hours.
2019 General Election - Candidate Profiles - Salford Now
December 2019
On the run-up to the General Election, I worked together with another Salford Now journalist, Laura Joffre to compile a profile piece of the candidates running in the local constituencies.
Working on this piece tested my researching skills. I spent the majority of the day searching through social media profiles, blog post's and news reports to compile concise and descriptive accounts of each candidate.
This piece also allowed me to practice collaborative work with other journalists in the newsroom and the quality of the final piece shows. It was one of the most trending articles on the site by the end of the day.
Contact
Have any questions? Looking to commission something? I'm open to networking and work offers, get in touch!
07704 622 661
