Alum
Katie Wadington
Deputy managing editor at The Hill
Katie Wadington, BAJ'95, previously worked as the USA Today fact-check editor and Asheville Citizen Times news director.
“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 helps you do it better next time. Anyone in an editorial 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