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Michael Orton on Muck Rack

Michael Orton

West
Covers:  rural affairs, conservation, enviro, utah politics, lbgt
Doesn't Cover: sewing
Independent multimedia producer writer shooter and boffin; post CBS and ABC. ATAS. Annenberg.

Michael Orton’s Biography

Michael Orton began his media career as an undergraduate Design and Film major at UCLA. After joining William Paley's CBS he was able to attend the Annenberg School for Communications at USC where he obtained a graduate degree in Communications Management with a comprehensive emphasis on technology, economics, and governance. Upon meeting Ambassador Annenberg and being admonished to "stay footloose" during a time of media consolidation and transition, Orton began a long-term freelance and consulting career with clients including ABC, Disney and NewsCorp. He notes that the consolidation and transition is ongoing well into the 21st century, as is he.

In 2004 he returned to his native Utah from working in Los Angeles for 35 years and joined the Utah Capitol Press Corps working exclusively in online media as a writer, producer and boffin. He presently works assignments with and contributes to KSL, UtahPoliticalCapitol.com, and other emerging, digitally mediated news and information outlets.

Michael Orton collaborated with MIT's MediaLab and Adobe on the early versions of PhotoShop and AfterEffects. He has also worked in Montreal, Paris and French Polynesia advancing digital reporting techniques on assignments ranging from Free Tibet rallies on Avenue Georges V to interviews with leading innovators like Garrett Brown at the NAB and Earthlink's Sky Dayton.

His professional awards include a Gold Award from the Broadcast Designers Association and membership recognition from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.