Alum
Katie Wadington
Deputy managing editor at The Hill
Katie Wadington, BAJ'95, deputy managing editor at The Hill.
“I studied journalism. I was actually on the magazine track. I joined the IDS as a junior. I had great fun with it because of the people I was with, which is exactly what a newsroom should be. Fun and hard, but the people make the newsroom. I grew up with a newspaper on the table when I was at breakfast, so that's why I was doing journalism.
Right before I graduated, we covered the Oklahoma City bombing – that was the news of the day two or three weeks before graduation. And that's exactly what I would be doing out in another newsroom.
Getting a chance to go out and report on something or write something, and then getting feedback on why that writing was good, bad, or where it needed to be improved, is something that maybe you didn't want to receive that feedback at the time - but it helped you do it better next time. Anyone who's in an ED role is approaching your work with the interest of the greater good and the paper in mind.
I am a big fan of the compliment sandwich – not in a fake way. I want to make sure that I'm saying things that are genuine and helpful. When I'm editing reporters' work, I do think there's a lot of value in saying, ‘listen, these three things, five things, ten things are fabulous.’”
Written By Kayla Pallotto
Photos By Giselle Marsteller