This is one of 15 profiles in our series on journalism’s last decade. For the rest of the stories, visit “The Hardest Decade in Journalism?”
In 2008, Tanzina Vega was excited to get to be at The New York Times and excited to work in audio, video and text. In 2015, she joined CNN. In 2018, she became the host of “The Takeaway,” a co-production of WNYC and PRI.
During that decade, she’s glad she didn’t give up her integrity, she said, “and the need to tell the stories that aren’t told.”
Here’s what she told us about the past decade:
In the last 10 years, what are the biggest changes you’ve had to make in your job?
I am happy to have worked in television, digital, print and radio. The biggest shift for me was learning how to use social media, especially Twitter, as a tool for reporting.
In the last 10 years, what are the biggest changes you’ve seen journalism go through?
The struggle to balance technology innovation and a core editorial mission.
What are you doing now that you didn’t expect to be doing 10 years ago?
Hosting a national radio show.
What aren’t you doing now that you did expect to be doing 10 years ago?
Being a local beat reporter.
What advice would 2018 you give 2008 you?
Stay the course. It’s gonna work out so much better than you imagine.
What’s the best thing that’s happened in journalism in the past decade?
Focus on increasing diversity/inclusion.
What’s the worst thing that’s happened in journalism in the past decade?
Focus on metrics/analytics and every shiny new object.
Correction: An earlier version of this story neglected to include that PRI is a co-production of “The Takeaway.” It has been corrected. We apologize for the error.
