Deborah L. Cohen, Independent Writer & Editor 

I have worked as a business journalist since receiving a Masters from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism in 1996. 

Before choosing to become an independent writer in 2007, I worked as an editor on the national business desk at Reuters in Chicago, where I focused on stories about the automotive, health-care and manufacturing industries. As a fast rewrite editor with a sharp eye for detail, I shaped stories read by media and financial clients around the world. When former Canadian publishing mogul Conrad Black was on trial for fraud, I coordinated the coverage from the federal court.

In  prior positions as a correspondent for Reuters, Crain's Chicago Business and Bloomberg News, I covered a wide range of financial news ranging from breaking stories about corporate earnings and product recalls to trends, features and profiles of corporations and top management.

My stories about McDonald's, Cisco Systems and other large public companies appeared regularly in major U.S. and international newspapers.  

My coverage of restaurant and food companies frequently overlapped into the areas of general interest and science, with extensive coverage about consumer health trends, the U.S. obesity crisis and mad cow disease.

A 2008 story I wrote for Indianapolis Monthly about Indianapolis' penchant for chain dining  won an SPJ award for best lifestyle feature in a magazine. The story was also a 2009 finalist for the National City & Regional Magazine Association awards. In 2003, I was a finalist for the Chicago Headline Club's Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism for my coverage of McDonald's.

I currently serve on the committee for entrepreneurial journalists for the Society of Business Editors & Writers (SABEW), which was formed to help promote the interests of freelance business journalists.  From 2005 to 2009, I was a board member of the Chicago Headline Club, the nation's largest chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.