I run a journalism club for middle schoolers. Today they asked: “Do you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend?”
“I’m married.”
“To a boy or to a girl?”
My whole spirit lit up. Good journalists don’t make assumptions. They’re gonna do great.
Journo students, something I wish I was told when I started — A beat is built one story at a time. Don’t stress if you can’t wrap your arms around the whole thing on Day 1. Your knowledge, sourcing and body of coverage will grow each time you report. It takes time. Breathe. ❤️
Journo students — you could spend an hour trawling the internet for story ideas. Or you could spend that same hour talking with a community member and leave with 5+ banger story ideas that no one else has and a new source for life. Try it. Trust me.
@sad13
For me (FL) it is having absolutely zero internal reaction to the wildest news story you can think of. Man disguised as bull tried to burn ex’s home down with spaghetti sauce? Sure of course.
“Do you get paid more if a story is really high quality or gets a ton of views?”
“No.”
“So your employer gets all the benefits of that and you don’t get any?”
💀💀💀 I don’t know if they thought I was cool but they were definitely cool, Gen Z is something else
I swore when I took this beat in San Diego that I’d learn Spanish as fast as I could. Roughly 240 days of practicing later, I used it in my reporting for the first time tonight. A really good feeling.
@laurenjonik
It’s been a messy start but my top goals are to provide a safe and engaging space for them after school and to empower them to know they can pursue journalism if they want to, and those goals are being met so I’m calling it a W haha.
I’m headed to San Diego to report on race and equity for their NPR/PBS station,
@KPBSnews
. To my neighbors — the moments spent sitting across from you, listening, were some of the most sacred of my life. This letter is for you.
@Report4America
@WUFTNews
For every one story I put out it really kills me the five worthwhile ones I can’t get to 😭 Support local journalism y’all. We need more reporters out here.
Reporters on beats that regularly bring you face to face with dark, heavy things -- what are your methods for coping or decompressing? Who do you talk to? Are you able to set the weight down? How? Do you actively balance out what you're exposed to? Would love your thoughts 👇🤲
“You’re like an old-school journalist. You actually sit and talk with people. Hang out. You don’t see that much anymore.”
🥹 I don’t think this man knows how much that comment made my week. 🩷
My Uber driver suggested NPR might be more engaging if we “added more slide whistles.” About to pitch to my editor, will let you know if he green lights it.
@TheTinaVasquez
@cgoodwoman
It took roughly a bajillion DJJ and first aid trainings, a background check, courage to pitch the club to a cafeteria of blank faces, and willingness to consistently chuck my plans out the window and adapt to the moment. Only three weeks in but it’s been absolutely worth it.
@chief_brody_
I hear you and you’re right! We’re in a rural part of Florida and they’re the first people here who’ve ever asked my spouse’s gender and not assumed, which felt monumental and special, though there’s lots of room for growth.
The one girl who was able to attend journalism club today takes multiple city buses home, and loves writing so much she was willing to get home hours later to come.
She couldn’t believe she was allowed to take the notebook and pen with her and finish her story at home.
@LizHackett
@AmberTozer
One time I walked out in a towel to ask my husband something only to discover he was on a Skype call with:
-my former boss
-my old pastor
-AND my ex
They were praying but opened their eyes when they heard me.
Anyway we don’t go to church anymore.
Only real solution.
Nothing beats interviewing very young people or very old people. This man just casually dropped that his father was Martin Luther King’s dentist. They marched together on the beaches of St. Augustine to see if they could be integrated.
In my marriage we each bring our strengths to the table to share the workload. For example, my husband cooks absolutely bussin food every night. And I? I get texts from him like this. And I like to think that balances out.
1/4 👋 HELLO JOURNALISM TWITTER, I need your help! It’s for the children.
(And please retweet this thread and tag other journalists! 🔁 I’m hoping for as much diversity as possible.
@Report4America
) 👇
I'm 30yo and still get absolutely chuffed when a source says I did a good job after an interview. Like a third grader getting a gold star. The unparalleled endorphin rush when they say "That's a great question!" 🤌
The phrase “voice for the voiceless” drives me bananas, especially in journalism. Everyone has a voice. Your job is not to speak for them, but to remove the obstacles to them being heard.
One of the harder parts of journalism is being aware of so many more stories that deserve to be told than there are reporters, time or resources to tell them.
“Do you get paid more if a story is really high quality or gets a ton of views?”
“No.”
“So your employer gets all the benefits of that and you don’t get any?”
💀💀💀 I don’t know if they thought I was cool but they were definitely cool, Gen Z is something else
@AdamSerwer
@JessicaValenti
And the fact that this (and the "Why We Miss the Wasps" article) made it past all the other pairs of eyes and editors and into print says a lot about what raced, gendered minds are in the other positions of power in the newsrooms.
Bruh I love my job so much 😭 I really get to meet so many incredible people and ask nosy questions and learn something new every day and witness history and explore my community — what a life, man.
I LOVE interviewing researchers because these folks have just been nerding out on their own for years doing fascinating work and then finally someone from "the outside" asks them about it and the enthusiasm and expertise that comes rolling off them is just *chef's kiss*
When I took this job reporting in San Diego I’d wore to myself I’d learn to speak Spanish. One year in it was just put to the test calling all the tortillerías in town to arrange a shoot tomorrow. I got by! Even a couple compliments on my Spanish. My heart is racing loll
I’m about to try to take an extremely nuanced issue and six hours of on the ground reporting and compelling interviews and reduce them into 4 and a half minutes of broadcast 🥲 🫡
@mystical_table
@soissagem
@mogomorton
Saw my older brother last night for the first time in years and the first words out of his mouth were “you wearin those grandpa shoes now wtf??”
I have waited my whole career for when the old j-school advice of “always get the dog’s name” would pay off. Today’s the day. Meet Alexis Gabrielle and her dog, “Princess Gabrielle from Texas.”
I love reporting in small communities because over time, all my new sources are connected to prior ones. It's someone's cousin or coworker or elementary school teacher or neighbor. Trust and reputation are make or break – but if you've got that, you're in. And it's just fun.
Just spoke with the
@TheAlligator
crew and the room was packed wall to wall with college students who are passionate about local journalism, working so hard to provide it, and asking all the right questions. The sight made me tear up a little bit! Rooting for you all! 🥹
Got back from reporting on a farm, where press scrutiny was intense. I was licked by calves, paid an entry fee of head scratches to an enormous and insistent bull, and had my camera bag thoroughly inspected by a goat named Tyrone.
I was apologizing to a tribal leader that media swarms when certain things happen but fails to cover indigenous affairs adequately the rest of the time, and she said something to me that every reporter might need to hear: "One story at a time will make a huge difference."
Too stunned to speak. The middle and high schoolers ASKED ME to take their phones from them before next journalism club so they can focus better???? A Christmas miracle in October 🫢
Journalism really is a community effort. It takes so many neighbors — and not just the sources that make it into your final story — to do it well. Super grateful for everyone helping me in my new home. 💛
Journalism students, especially at
@UFJSchool
, really amaze me.
Don’t let the high-achieving pool you’re swimming in cause you to doubt yourself.
You are doing things most undergraduates would never dare to do.
Came across something I wrote years ago. Sometimes I'm embarrassed by old things I wrote, too distracted by the edits I'd make now to appreciate the words. But in this one, I think I'll always see the words.
🧵Today I say goodbye to a journalism club middle schooler who’s transferring. I met her just a few months after she lost her teen brother to gun violence. I was amazed by her resilience to keep coming to school, let alone try journalism, something so outside her comfort zone.1/7
One time a middle schooler in journalism club said “you FORGOT the HEADPHONES??” to me with so much unmitigated judgement that to this day it’s always her voice that rings in my head and reminds me to pack them in my bag
My counselor just gave me some good words that I think could probably be used by all journalists: "Your work is important. It's important, it's hard, and you're allowed to be affected by it." ❤️
Loll my editor's Slack message is sending me: "You are questioning yourself, and I'm not sure why. 🙂"
Printing it. Framing it. Tattooing it on my forearm. Challenging my anxiety with it at one-hour intervals.
When I worked for
@WUFTNews
@NPR
I gave my dad a shirt that ended up being too small for him. Opened my mail today to find that his wife turned it into a tank for my dog 💀
@KurzawaCaroline
Needed this ❤️ three weeks in it has mostly felt like chaos haha, not sure if they’re learning anything yet but I can tell they like the time and feel cared for and believe they could pursue journalism if they wanted to and that’s enough
@KarenKilgariff
I think my favourite part is how genuinely proud everyone is at the end, as if this was a valid problem to be having in the first place
I photographed a girl holding up her perfect score skip counting sheet & then every 3rd grader who got 100% came quietly over to ask if I could take their picture too & my camera roll is full of their proud little faces 😭 my editor can’t possibly ask me to choose between these
It’s 59 degrees in Gainesville, Fla. and there is a slight breeze. Every person walking on this campus looks like an extra in Game of Thrones after winter done already came. The drama is at an all-time high.
Friday, I shared the story of a local drag queen. Today, I got an email from a 75yo: “I very much enjoyed your interview with Matthew Lovegood. It is the first time the ‘Drag Queen Persona/Story’ ever made sense to me.”
The power of a single story. ❤️
One of the joys of working in journalism is that I WANT to get better at it, and there’s really no limit to that growth. I’ve worked jobs where that wasn’t the case, and it feels v good to want to be good at my job.
“OK, I’m going to hit publish now. I know it can feel nerve-wracking, how are you feeling?”
Source: “I would be nervous but I’ve read your other coverage and I’m feeling good about it.”
Cherishing these words on my last day
@WUFTNews
@Report4America
🥲
🧵5 years ago I decided I wanted to “tell true stories” — ones that mattered but weren’t getting told because they belonged to people often ignored. Had no idea what that would look like or how I would get there from the farm I was working on, I just knew it was my life’s work👇
Source: “Thank you for taking the time to sit down and listen. Because do you ever feel like you’re shouting at the wind? Like you’re yelling, ‘Someone help! Someone witness!’ And I can tell you care, that it’s not just a job for you.”
My work is the greatest privilege 🥹
Thinking about how the number one concern of most of my journalism students was that they’d start reporting and have no story ideas. Sweet child, I promise that will not be the problem.
One of the harder parts of journalism is being aware of so many more stories that deserve to be told than there are reporters, time or resources to tell them.
The others who signed up should be able to make it in coming weeks, these students just face so many extra hurdles to participating in after school activities. But would I come once a week and sit with this one girl for an hour just to watch her write her heart out? Instant yes.
I adopted a dog a few days ago and she gently paws my phone out of my hand whenever I’m on it near her. My screen time is at an all-time low. Highly recommend as a treatment for phone addiction.
I came to work at my local library this morning so I could focus better. It’s toddler dance time, apparently. We’re on the third play through of Pharrell’s “Happy.” I am drafting a records request drowning in screams and off-beat claps.
2/4 I am starting a journalism club at an alternative academic center for middle and high school students. I want them to understand that anyone, from any background, can become a great journalist, and that it’s actually these differences that are so needed in our newsrooms.
A dream project in the works with
@TheMoniBasu
and already such an inspiring team of students.
We are still building out the magazine team with reporters, photographers, videographers, artists, designers and web developers. All UF students eligible -- spread the word!🔁
#atrium
Been trying to get our rescue dog to play since we brought her home from the shelter two months ago. Tonight, she played with a toy for the first time. Then she upended her toy bin and played with ALL the toys😭canceled all my evening plans just been watching her for 30min 🥹
My dad isn’t an emotions guy & he just said: “Katie, you have always been thrown in the deep end and you always swim to the top. They could throw you in the deepest ocean and you’d swim right to the top.”
Me: “😭Dad you’re making me cry!”
Dad: “OK I’ll change the subject.”
I mentioned to a friend in another city that a story I’m reporting was really getting to me and she immediately venmoed me $25 for “self-care” and I guess the line between me and crying was thinner than the beauty of friendship because now I’m sobbing in my car.
I wrote this not to spark fear, but to call attention to a need in a county I serve as a journalist. And so the next person would feel a little less alone.
@WUFTNews
Just had a reporting win that I was so happy about I compulsively did this fist pump move at my desk. I did not know that was within my body language. I thought it was just a movie thing. Hoping nobody saw. 👀
My source, a subject expert who speaks nationally, emphasized at least 10x that his work was his wife’s idea and none of it would be possible without her and to please credit her in the story if I could. He probably has no idea how healing that was to hear from a powerful man.
My HEART when a child comes up to me when I’m reporting and asks me to take their picture with my camera 🥹 it’s so tender and pure and I hope they never lose that.
3/4 If you come from a lived experience or identity that’s underrepresented in journalism, ✨please send me a short video, 2 min. or less, introducing yourself and how your background has helped your journalism.✨A line or two of pep talk encouragement is also welcome!
“I am so glad you’re here. Where has your reporting been my whole life?” 😭 Whew. It was hard leaving Florida. I told myself everywhere needs good equity reporting. But hearing it from a San Diegan in a community I report on was needed affirmation for my heart.❤️
So happy to say this story won a
@FLNewscasters
award last night. Yet more confirmation to the alumni that your story, your courage to share it and the words you used to do it are powerful. It was a true highlight of my career to be trusted with it.
@cgoodwoman
@TheTinaVasquez
😍 The club is currently all Black female students and we’re in the rural South. So exciting to be able to show them a news source that better reflects them, and the possibilities it represents. Putting this in my back pocket! Thanks so much for your work!
Actually tearing up to be introduced this way in San Diego four months in 😭😭 So grateful for the people who have trusted me with their stories even though I’m new here.
Did this story to correct misperceptions of this remarkable school, which is almost entirely Black and across the street from the housing authority. People Mag saw it & now the school is getting NATIONAL SHINE. Hell yeah, what a proud day for the east side.
Was just (affectionately) called a “newsroom hustler” live on air and I will no longer be accepting any other job title.
It’s ✨ pledge drive szn ✨ so don’t forget to give if you can to your local public media station, we really do count on your support!
“Who will listen?” Alonzo asked when I first sat down with him. He told me he’d been waiting and praying for decades for someone to come along and tell this story.
Everybody’s listening now, Alonzo, thanks to you and the rest of Mr. Parker’s band. ❤️
And finally, congratulations to
@KatieHyson23
,
@WUFTNews
, who wins the first-ever
@Groundtruth
Award for “How a Black marching band style was erased from Gainesville’s fields, and why it matters decades later.”