Writer Wednesday: Author & Journalism Educator Katina Paron

This week’s Writer Wednesday features Katina Paron, author of “A NewsHound's Guide to Student Journalism.” As a journalism educator and editor, Katina has helped thousands of teens earn bylines in professional publications. From the award-winning “Since Parkland” to supporting student publications, her work elevates the voices and experiences of young people and provides journalism training and mentorship to teens.

She also manages the Teach for Chicago Journalism program at Medill, teaches journalism at the City University of New York and edits "The Future is Ms." a teen-written column for Ms. magazine. Her articles on scholastic journalism have appeared in the New York Times and WNYC.

We’re grateful to have Katina as one of our Journalism Camp supporters and were delighted to give each student a copy of her book this summer! Read more about Katina below!

What is your favorite part of working with student journalists?

Their energy is contagious. Teen journalists are so open to learning, to being mentored, to saying yes to opportunities. I can’t help but root for them in uncovering injustice or sharing the realities of their experiences.

What does your workspace typically look like?

My desk is a giant old wooden workbench that probably weighs 300 pounds — a serious piece of furniture. It sits in front of a bay window on the 2nd floor so I get to be distracted by neighborhood activity on my street. On one side of my computer lives a collection of water bottles and coffee mugs, on the other side, a stack of notebooks and my calendar. I just got a wrist rest from Etsy that’s filled with flax and lavender. It feels nice and smells relaxing.

How has working with student journalists impacted the way you view the future of journalism?

It’s incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by young people who want to tell the stories of their peers and their community. However, I’m not convinced that there are enough professional editors that see these writers’ life experiences as assets. Newsrooms aren’t supportive of young people who aren’t cis, white, hetero, binary or those who come from low-income families. Some editors hide behind what their audiences want but really they are denying access to an important part of their community that will never be their audience because these people aren’t reflected in the news products. The good news is young journalists will carve their own path regardless of what stodgy editors say — and that is what will save journalism.

What is your favorite non-writing hobby?

Is it cheating if I say reading? My favorite non-word related hobby would be bread making. I’ve been making sourdough bread for about 10 years now so I appreciate all the new bakers who found solace in dough during the pandemic. Right now I’m mixing up some oatmeal maple chocolate dough.

What is your favorite piece of writing advice?

Read your work out loud. Listen to what you write. If you need to take a giant breath to get through a sentence, rewrite. If you trip over your words, rewrite. Pay attention to rhythm and vary your sentence length.

What books are currently on your nightstand?

I’m normally a pretty fast reader so it was nice to slow down a bit with the biography “Tom Stoppard: A Life” (Hermoine Lee). As soon as that was done I made my way through “Anxious People” (Fredrik Backman), “Wintering” (Katherine May) and “What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Blacker” (Damon Young). A constant on my nightstand is poetry by Margaret Atwood, Donald Hall or Leonard Cohen.

What writing projects are you currently working on?

I’m developing a series of workshops for Chicago teens participating in the Medill Media Teens program at Northwestern University.