Interview

Lisa Larson from the The Spectrum in St. George gave me her answers to questions about journalism. Although Lisa is a newspaper reporter, she did not study journalism in college. Lisa studied public relations and advertising at SUU. Unable to find a pr job after graduating in 2001 she applied for an assistant features editor position for the Spectrum and discovered after a short time that she really enjoyed it. Lisa's view of what makes good journalism is fairly simple: 'information that can help people'. She also emphasized that good journalism also requires that you treat your sources well and fairly.

In terms of public journalism, Lisa feels that it can be very valuable to also hear the opinions and points of view of everyday people who aren't professional journalists. But she cautioned that because they do not play by the same rules, citizen journalists may not act with the caution, i.e. fact checking. Along with this, Lisa suggested that those currently studying journalism should be well versed in the online facets of the news industry. She said, "Be prepared to write for online first, print second when you get into the field."

The fact that a newspaper is a business, according to Lisa, is something that she, and most starting journalists, don't fully realize. During her years working in the news Lisa has learned that there is often not a great divide between the newsroom and the advertising executives, and that sometimes stories are changed or softened because it may alienate a certain advertiser. Although newspapers nationwide have felt the sting of drops in circulation, Lisa says that her newspaper is lucky that they have been able, so far, to cut costs and not jobs.