Mike Koziatek, 59
Reporter, Belleville News-democrat Belleville, Ill. First journalism job: Sports editor, general assignment reporter and photographer, Eldon (Mo.) Advertiser
What are some of the most important lessons you have learned while working in the news industry?
I’ve worked with a lot of great journalists in my career as a reporter and editor for local newspapers. While many of them earned journalism degrees, I’ve been struck by how many didn’t go to journalism school or even attend college. But that didn’t stop them from excelling and enjoying a “healthy” addiction to the adrenaline rush of getting a scoop. One of the most important lessons I’ve learned is to be more patient with everyone and to hone my listening skills. This especially hit home for me after becoming a father of two. I try to put myself in another person’s mindset to understand their side of the story. I’ve always reminded myself to keep my math skills sharp, because tons of our articles involve numbers, percentages and statistics. I’ve spent about half of my career as an assistant city editor and the other half as a reporter, and enjoyed each position equally—even after jumping back to reporting after holding editing jobs. Finally, I learned that while it’s not a perfect system, a newsroom can produce great stories while all the reporters, editors and photographers are working remotely during a pandemic.
What are your predictions for where journalism is heading?
The first part of my answer is really easy. Most people will always want journalists to continue covering what’s happening in their neighborhood, the state capitol and the White House. Readers rely on us to help them gauge how wisely government officials spend taxpayers’ money and how well they protect the public’s interest. This year, during the pandemic and protests, the demand for news has gone off the charts. The hard part is predicting how journalists will deliver those messages and then how to pay for their efforts. In the short term, I think foundationsupported initiatives such as Capitol News Illinois and Report for America will become more widely used. We’ll see fewer print editions of local newspapers, more reliance on subscribers and more consolidation in the ownership of local newspapers. For the long term? I wish I had a crystal ball, but then that would take all the fun out of it. Perhaps we’ll find more local newspapers being operated by nonprofit organizations that have “sustaining members” and fundraising drives twice a year like a lot of public radio stations.