Imagine if you will, a reporter or editor being interviewed by us. That’s right, we interview them. Why? Because too often in our business it’s tough to find time, foster a relationship, and say thank you for all you do to keep the public informed and entertained.

We figured a page in our monthly newsletter would be a good way to do just that – and keep our readers up to speed on what’s happening in media.

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Please tell us about your reporter journey and how you ended up at DBJ – and a bit more about your current reporter role.

In a lot of ways, I think I’m still at the start of my reporter journey despite having worked for multiple outlets. I graduated college early in Dec. 2023 and stuck around in my college town of Lawrence, Kansas, until my friends and I all graduated together that May. I guess you can call the DBJ one of my first “real” jobs, but while in school I was an extremely active reporter, often holding two or three reporting jobs at once on top of school.

Like most reporters, I found my love for journalism in high school through the school newspaper. In college, that passion turned into a columnist role at our university’s newspaper and then eventually becoming an editor. I also worked for a small paper near Lawrence called the Eudora Times along with smaller, freelance-like roles. In my later college years, I started to land bigger reporting roles, building on my experience. I landed an internship at a Kansas City television news station, KCTV5, in the summer of my junior year (despite never having done a standup or a package) and I also worked for two legislative sessions at the Kansas City Star as a statehouse reporter.

Eventually, my desire to live in the mountains led me out of Kansas City. I was familiar with American City Business Journal’s Kansas City branch of the paper, and knew that kind of reporting was something I was really interested in. Now, I cover a variety of topics including restaurants, retail, sports, outdoors, hospitality and tourism. I often say I have the most fun beats at the DBJ.

What’s the story you’re most proud of having told, and what made it feel meaningful beyond just the byline?

Covering the Kansas Legislature was some of the most meaningful work I’ve ever done. During my two years, I covered some of the most controversial legislation introduced within the last decade from bills restricting the freedom on transgender individuals to anti-abortion legislation to anti-vaccine legislation. One story that comes to mind from that era is one I wrote about how specific abortion legislation could worsen Kansas’s OB-GYN shortage where I interviewed multiple health care providers, lobbyists, students and lawmakers to understand how restrictions on specific kinds of health care could worsen the rural health crisis in Kansas and drive away providers. The story told people the real impacts beyond the culture war and, I think, encouraged readers to think about the wide array of effects that legislation like this could produce.

More recently, my editors and I spent our weekend going through the DOJ files about Jeffrey Epstein and uncovering his relationships with local businessmen. Our research led us to write a story about Elon Musk’s brother and Boulder restaurateur Kimbal Musk’s relationship with the convicted sex offender. That story felt meaningful for a variety of reasons but specifically because it’s likely that many men associated with Epstein may not ever face charges. Using the power of the press to inform people is sometimes the most powerful tool.

A few others at the DBJ come to mind including my enterprise reporting on the elusive and famous Leadville outdoors shop Melanzana (where the owners cornered a photographer and I and pressured us not to publish a story in a storage unit outside of town) and my coverage of the major ski patroller unions throughout Colorado and beyond.

If you could go back and give your younger reporter self one piece of advice, what would it be?

I would tell my younger self the same things that I tell students that I mentor at my alma mater: impact does not just come from reporting for The New York Times or CBS Sports or any legacy paper. Sure, they often post groundbreaking stories and drop major investigative pieces that change the landscape. But local news is equally as important and can win the same awards, having a similar impact on a local community. Local news is even more important now as more local news outlets disappear as more newspapers close their doors.

Most younger reporters I speak to (including myself at a young age) see these papers as stepping stones to a New York City or Washington D.C. office covering big stories. And, for some, that works – and it’s an awesome career path. But I’d tell younger Jenna that you don’t have to be at a legacy media in order to make an impact or to be successful.

I also tell younger students that journalism is your career, not your whole life. I think there can be a tendency among younger journalists to overwork themselves to the point of burnout at a young age (hence the 3 jobs in college). Prioritizing things like work-life balance along with loving the things you cover is extremely important. 

What’s a non-news hobby or guilty pleasure that keeps you sane after covering heavy stuff?

I spend every second I can outside, which usually works well as an outdoors and sports reporter (call it “research”). When I’m not skiing, climbing, hiking, camping or traveling around the state, I’m thinking about skiing, hiking, camping or traveling or planning the next time I can do those things. I consider any weekend spent with at least one day outside of the city and in the mountains a success. Exercise and fresh air can cure nearly anything!

On weekdays when that’s less possible, I work out nearly every day to relieve some stress and also train my body for my mountaineering activities. I also enjoy cooking at home and challenging myself with new recipes.

What’s one thing people get completely wrong about what being a reporter is actually like day-to-day?

Reporting is not all anonymous sources, uncovering huge scandals and breaking news that needs to be turned in an hour or less. A lot of days are spent raking through public records for newsgathering, emailing and calling sources and reading through dozens of pitches per day to find out what story is right for you.

Some days I’ll have six stories that need to get done ASAP. Other days are much slower. Some of my most impactful stories have been about individual people or business owners who are making a difference in their community. 

Often, when people think of reporters, an image of the reporters sitting in front of Kaoline Leavitt in the White House or the reporters on the sideline of the Super Bowl. But the vast majority of reporters are right here in your home town attending city council meetings, profiling local entrepreneurs and those who are making a difference, covering local development projects and digging into all kinds of local investigations into the city’s most prominent players — stories that may never be told if local reporters weren’t around. 

Please share anything else you’d like to – we’d love to hear more!

It’s no secret that journalism is a hard career to be in right now from censorship to artificial intelligence to facing “fake news media” allegations. So far, none of that has been able to dull my passion for the profession. I think I have one of the best jobs in the world where I get to meet interesting people no day is the same as the next.

The Washington Post’s slogan of “Democracy Dies in Darkness” is often a quote I return to in times such as these. I’m reminded of how important mine and other journalists’ work is every day.

“Some of my most impactful stories have been about individual people or business owners who are making a difference in their community.”

– Jenna Barackman