More than half of the news industry’s jobs vanished between 2001 and 2016. But those 238,000 journalists are still out there, having moved from the newsroom to universities, nonprofits and their own start-up firms. We look at how journalism skills translate outside of newsrooms and what skills mid-career journalists need to hone and develop to tap into journalism’s evolving opportunities.
Panelists: Diane Anderson-Minshall, Senta Scarborough, Kristina Torres
DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL is CEO/editorial director of Retrograde Communications, a Pride Media editorial partner, where she oversees editorial and production of The Advocate, Chill, Plus and Out Traveler magazines, as well as TinyLivingChic.com, Chill.us, and HIVPlusMag.com. She is executive producer of My Health, My Way, HIV Stops With Me, The T With Dr. D and IPrEP4. She also serves as president of GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics. She’s the author of four mystery novels from Bold Strokes Books and a memoir, “Queerly Beloved: A Love Story Across Genders” (which she penned with trans journalist Jacob Anderson-Minshall, her co-pilot of 27 years). She is the recipient of several awards from GLAAD, NLGJA, Western Publishing Association’s Maggies and more.
SENTA SCARBOROUGH is an award-winning journalist and Emmy-nominated producer. She is the founder of Sentamatic Media focusing primarily on screenwriting, journalism and nonfiction projects. Her work has appeared in Adweek, INTO, USA Today, E! News, Us Weekly Magazine and Asheville Poetry Review, among others. She currently serves on the board of directors for the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Association. She holds her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Writing for the Performing Arts from the University of California Riverside/Palm Desert. She lives in Los Angeles with her wife, Katie, and their dog, Sadie.
KRISTINA TORRES is the leadership communications manager for the University System of Georgia, a position she began in 2017 after a 24-year career working at newspapers and media companies in South Carolina, Minnesota and Georgia. Called one of “the best state capitol reporters in America” by The Washington Post, Torres during her career spent more than a decade as an education beat writer for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where she worked on the Pulitzer Prize-nominated team that exposed the nation’s biggest test cheating scandal. She is also a member of the NLGJA national board of directors. A Colorado native, Torres graduated with a journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.