Hi everyone,
I’m Katie and I am joining inewsource as a California Local News fellow covering communities in North San Diego County.
While inewsource has covered big stories in North County before, my goal as a community reporter is to be out learning about what you all care about and writing about those issues: from school board meetings to debates over housing and the environment.
I got to know some of you this past week, when I made the trip to Carlsbad’s city council and watched the state of the city. I loved learning from the mayor and the city’s youngest residents alike about summer movie nights and traffic safety. In Encinitas, the mayor, council members and several residents told me I was lucky Wednesday’s meeting did not go until 1 a.m. as it sometimes does. I will be sure to bring a midnight snack next week.
My passion has always been in local journalism and the connection to the community that comes with it. After growing up in New York City, I went to Middlebury College in Vermont. I reported in the state for many years, both as an editor of my school’s paper and for the thriving local papers. I drove down dirt roads to Queen Bee’s burger shop, which operates out of a trailer and draws a crowd every Friday night, and reached some roads where I could no longer drive when I was reporting on debates over ATV usage in one small town.
I was also one of the first people to report on farmers losing their crops to what seemed at the time to be surprising, drastic flooding. It turned out to be the first year of three in which the state flooded on the same July day.
Next, I drove my purple Buick across the country to Las Vegas, which may very well be the most different place from Vermont in the United States. I continued my local reporting for the daily newspaper, the Las Vegas Review-Journal. There I spent many late nights at school board meetings and met with teachers, parents and education advocates in the fifth largest – and one of the lowest ranking – school districts in the country. In addition to chronicling the fight to improve the school district, which included reporting on top officials’ mismanagement of a $4 billion budget, I did a long term profile of families who lost loved ones to extreme heat (it reached 120 degrees in July).
What I loved most was maintaining long-term connections with sources and seeing firsthand the effects my stories could have, both in holding power to account and honoring people’s stories. I am excited to do the same in North County.
I have been looking forward to my arrival in San Diego for quite some time and have read as much as I can. But I am most excited to be out in the community to hear directly from you all.
It’s a big beat, and I know no two places in North County are the same. Please reach out to me, whether it’s with a story idea or a recommendation for the best places to run and hike in the area. You can write me at katiefutterman@inewsource.org. I am all ears and always carry a pen.
