Media Monday – Nine Questions
With A Journalist
Media Monday is weekly discussion with a journalist to help better understand their jobs and how news is created and reported upon. As one of the top PR firms in DC, we understand how important it is to be in tune with members of the media. In honor of tax season, we interviewed Laura Davison, a Capitol Hill tax reporter at Bloomberg Tax.
- How did you find yourself as a journalist?
I’m the children of two journalism majors. My parents met at the Missouri School of Journalism, and I followed in their footsteps and went to school there 30 years after them.
- Which of your stories are you most proud of?
Stories that cause people to act are the ones I’m most proud of. If my reporting causes the financial markets to move, a lawmaker to think twice about their support for a bill, or someone to pick up the phone to call their Congressman or a government agency, I’ve done my job.
- What is your favorite thing about your job?
I love that every day is different and my job is to learn things. Being a journalist is a lot about recognizing what you don’t know—because readers probably don’t either—and then finding smart people to explain it.
- What is your interview style?
I like to find a connection with someone before beginning an interview. Maybe we’re from the same place, went to the same school or even recently traveled to the same place. Establishing a human connection up front builds trust.
- What do you look for in a story?
I’m looking for stories that make Washington comprehensible to someone who isn’t inside the Beltway. Living and working in DC makes one easily forget that not everybody knows or cares how the federal government works. I’m looking for stories that make it clear how the government’s actions (or sometimes inactions) matter to people and businesses.
- What is your day like at your job?
My morning starts with checking in with my colleagues about the stories we want to chase that day. I’ll then spend some time on the phone or walking around the halls of the Capitol to chat with people with what’s going on. I try to block of some time to write in the middle of the day, and then in the afternoon I’ll get back on the phone or head back out into the hallways to check in about how different issues are progressing. News in D.C. tends to break in the late afternoon or evening, so there’s usually a last minute flurry to update stories before the day is done.
I’m looking for stories that make it clear how the government’s actions (or sometimes inactions) matter to people and businesses.
- Who do you most look up to in the journalism industry?
I really admire Carol Loomis, a longtime journalist and editor at Fortune Magazine. She’s also a graduate of the Missouri School of Journalism and paved the way for women wanting to cover business and government.
- Fill in the blank:
- If I am not reporting, I am… hiking. Some of my favorite spots around D.C include Great Falls and Rock Creek Park.
- If I could interview anyone, it would be… Alexander Hamilton. Wait, hear my out! It’s not just because of my love for the musical. I also cover the Treasury Department, and Hamilton seems like the kind of guy who would divulge a lot during an interview
- My favorite thing about DC is… everyone here is secretly, or not-so-secretly, a nerd.
- What is your guilty pleasure?
Macaroni and cheese with frozen green peas is the nectar of the gods, in my opinion.
Check back on Mondays for more installments of Media Monday, published by Xenophon Strategies, at the top of PR agencies in DC.
– By: Ivy Kabbani – Account Coordinator | IKabbani@xenophonstrategies.com