TARA McCARTY

CLEAR TAKEOVER

October 20, 2019: Investigation of the Church of Scientology’s quiet acquisition of property in downtown Clearwater, Fla. over the course of three years.

CLEAR TAKEOVER ON SOCIAL

I pulled facts and quotes from this investigative story to draw in more readers on social media. The colors matched the print presentation.

THE FORGOTTEN

May 5, 2019: Hundreds of graves in one of Tampa’s first African-American cemeteries were forgotten about and built upon until this story, which led to X-rays of the underground and the discovery of even more bodies left behind than originally thought.

THE FORGOTTEN ON SOCIAL

The original map and question of what happened to the bodies were chilling enough to use on their own for social media.

LINCOLN’S SHOT

Dec. 16- Dec. 23, 2018: This 8-part series, written by Lane DeGregory, included many firsts for Tampa Bay Times design. From the full-page inside photo each day to the above-the-mast story starts on days two through seven, to the fonts used in the labeling, I had to convince others it was worth doing. My goal with every project is to make it stand out. I believe all those elements helped tell the story of Lincoln. The following pages are from days one, four and eight.

LINCOLN’S SHOT ON SOCIAL

For a follow-up story that ran nine months later, I designed social cards to give readers just enough information to know that Lincoln and his family were still out there trying to make a life for themselves.

HEARTBROKEN

Dec. 2, 2018: Reporters discovered several deaths of children due to carelessness during heart surgeries at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Heart Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla. In many cases, the families of the deceased children were unaware of the causes of death. The original story became a Pulitzer finalist and had many follow-ups, including one shown at the end (April 14, 2019), which covered what the hospital’s attempts to right wrongs.

INAUGURATION OF DONALD TRUMP

January 21, 2017: One of my favorite things about newspaper design is the idea that people may keep a page until it becomes brittle and yellow. Putting together the record of a presidential inauguration was one of the first major career bucket list items I crossed off.

 

 

 

 

FRONT PAGES

Many of these pages were recognized by groups like the Society for News Design and the Florida Society of News Editors as examples of good work. The first two came from national news events: the Las Vegas shooting and the legalization of gay marriage in the U.S. The third was a Sunday Business cover requiring art direction with a freelance illustrator, the fourth was a Sunday 1A cover that warranted a typographic element to help it stand out. The last one, a rare Hurricane Edition which was distributed to hurricane shelters in the Tampa Bay area outside of regular delivery hours during 2017’s Hurricane Irma, represents perhaps the most stressed out I’ve been under working conditions. All of these stand out as examples of true newsroom collaboration requiring much discussion.

 

 

 

 

ABOUT ME

I tend to think of myself as an average human being who doesn’t know how to cook, almost exclusively watches shows I’ve watched before and feels snobby when I tell people my dog is a Bichon Frise, not a poodle. I was born in Provo, Utah, the fifth of six children, and currently live in St. Petersburg, Fla., where I think of humidity as a giant hug.

I’m driven by the need to know and the need to document, which feed directly into journalism — a field I knew I wanted to work in since I was 10. I lay out news pages, primarily, and lean toward the simple, practical side of design. I thrive in collaborative atmospheres, breaking news situations and warm weather.

RESUME