Happy 2025, and welcome back to a new season of Verbal Journalism / 40 Minute Features!
To kick it all off, I am honored to share an interview with someone who has been instrumental in getting this podcast out in the world each week for well over a year, now.
Hillsdale College senior Jillian Parks has graciously served as volunteer editor for most of my audio interviews since fall of 2023 (and hers is the voice you hear at the beginning and end of each episode), but her real job as Editor-in-Chief of the Hillsdale Collegian newspaper is the topic of our conversation today. The Collegian, Michigan’s oldest college newspaper, is an award-winning weekly publication serving both Hillsdale College (one of the top liberal arts schools in the nation and a personal favorite as a visiting journalist) and the people of its hometown in Hillsdale, Michigan.
In this episode we discuss how Jillian, a Texan, ended up at Hillsdale; why she majored in journalism and what it’s like to run a major college newspaper; her other job as co-host for Hillsdale radio podcast The Social Mediators (have I mentioned Jillian is tremendously skilled at balancing a LOT of things at once?); and what her plans are as she looks toward graduation this spring.
Jillian is among the most capable young journalists I have known, and a good and beautiful person to boot. When I first asked why she left theater to focus on journalism instead, she said it was because journalism was too self-focused, and she wants to be focused on other people instead. I am paraphrasing here, but hopefully that helps you understand a bit about what makes this rising star tick.
Enjoy the interview! And thanks for rejoining me in 2025 -
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