Julia Stidham, 51

Associate Publisher, The Union/ Swift Communications, Grass Valley, CA First journalism job: My first paid position was working for a lifestyle magazine reporting and celebrating life in California’s Sierra Foothills. I worked primarily in design and sales. During middle school, I first became interested in journalism when I took the student newspaper class as my 7th grade elective. I had a great teacher named Mr. Mcquiston, who made the entire process interesting and exciting. I was assigned to do more design and layout. I loved the freedom, creativity, brainstorming and the opportunity to test new looks for the publication. What are some of the most important lessons you have learned working in the news industry?

Stay open-minded and be willing to accept change. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas. Stay close to your readers.

I want to know what information and content they want, not just what we think they want. It’s okay for your team/ employees to outshine management, and it’s a quality you should encourage. This creates a great environment and fosters trust, growth and teamwork.

It is my job to help each person on my team advance their careers. Every employee is a unique person. My mission is to learn what makes them feel successful and what drives them. What are your predictions for the future of news publishing?

With all we have experienced during the past 17 months, everyone could use some simplicity in their lives and receiving news from trusted, factual sources. The “what-was-old-is-nownew-again” feeling is currently quite pervasive; we want to feel a sense of community and familiarity again. Everyone feels more nostalgic, so if you combine that with data-driven, localfocused stories both online and in print, it will be welcomed and serve everyone’s current needs.