On this episode, we’re joined by Marjorie Cortez. Marjorie is an education reporter for the Deseret News in Utah. Prior to her current role on the Utah InDepth team, she was an editorial writer, columnist and Sunday opinion section editor. She’s been a journalist for three decades.
For those unfamiliar, The Deseret News covers news locally and nationally and is the oldest continuously operating publication in the American West. The company that owns the publication is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Marjorie talked about working the education beat, which includes a lot of coverage of social issues. She talked to us about what it was like to cover a high school graduation in a prison and some of the difficult choices she faced in writing that story. She provided examples of other work she’s done recently as well. She discussed what it is like to write stories now compared to when she first started. And she gave a great example of something she learned from making a mistake.
Story examples:
Graduation ceremony in a prison
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/6/5/23746993/utah-state-prison-earning-diploma-while-incarcerated
A bus that doubles as a homeless shelter
https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/3/29/23643677/nomad-alliance-bus-homeless-shelter-winter-weather
Marjorie’s Salute: The Education Writer’s Association
Thank you as always for listening. Please send us feedback to journalismsalute@gmail.com, visit our website thejournalismsalute.org and Mark's website (MarkSimonmedia.com) or tweet us at @journalismpod. And find us on TikTok at @journalismsalute.
Tim Whitaker, Executive Director - Mighty Writers
Laurie Ezzell Brown, The Canadian Record (Texas)
Sarah Spicer, Committee to Protect Journalists
Tiffany Tan, Reporter: VTDigger
Luella Brien: Editor-In-Chief, Four Points Press; Journalism Teacher
Jared Council, Senior Editor, Forbes
Roxanne Scott, Senior Producer Futuro Media Group
Karen Hawkins, Story Editor: The 19th*
Bobbi-Jeanne Misick, Reporter: Gulf States Newsroom
Erin O'Hare, Neighborhoods Reporter: Charlottesville Tomorrow
Margo Snipe, National Health Reporter, Capital B
Amir Khafagy, Reporter, Documented (Report for America)
Raegan Miller, Reporter KRBD (Ketchikan, Alaska) + Report for America
Alain Stephens, Reporter, The Trace (Gun Violence)
Yanqi Xu, Reporter: Flatwater Free Press
Kasha Patel, Deputy Weather Editor, Washington Post
Inez Russell Gomez, Editorial Page Editor at The Santa Fe New Mexican
Liz Robbins, Director of Journalism Partnerships at Define American
Scott MacFarlane, Congress/January 6 Reporter - CBS News
Nick Hirshon, Guest Editor, American Journalism
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Freakonomics Radio
The Why Files: Operation Podcast
Criminal
Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World