Five Questions: Lisa Wingo

Q: Tell us about how you started in journalism.

A: I moved to Springfield in 1994 – I’m originally from St. Louis. I finished my degree at (Missouri State University) and took an internship at the News-Leader. … After putting in a semester of work, I was hired. There were three people with master’s degrees from Northwestern, and then there was me.

Q: How did you make the transition to teaching?

A: I had three young children, and my husband (Mike Wingo) had started 417 Magazine. I decided that two journalists in the family wasn’t working with three kids. I decided to get my teaching certificate. Education positions in journalism are hard to find in southwest Missouri – the only ones I know of are in the Springfield schools – so I was very lucky to get in here at Glendale. I tried to continue to write freelance, but that segued into doing journalism teaching full-time, and I also teach honors English for sophomores as well.

Q: What’s the biggest challenge facing students who want to go into journalism?

A: Developing sufficient communication skills. So many of them are used to texting and impersonal communication, rather than interpersonal communication, that the act of getting up from a computer and going to interview someone is challenging.

There’s also developing the work ethic it takes to complete a publication. This is the most labor-intensive endeavor that I’ve ever done, and I think to ask high schoolers or college students to do that is tough. … Having the patience and the attention to detail and the motivation to produce a good publication is waning a little. But, on the other hand, the ones who are interested in that are going into the field.

Q: How has journalism changed in recent years?

A: It’s all about trying to sift through what is journalism and what is not. It’s a real gray area now – most of the kids have some type of Facebook or MySpace, and that could be considered a blog. The line is blurring. (Also) I don’t think that we’re keeping pace with the technology in the education field.

At the News-Leader, they’ve got photographers carrying video cameras to post on the Web site. The function of the job in the field is changing.

Q: What was your reaction to winning this award?

A: My focus has been on teaching journalism to high school students – sparking their interest, seeing that light bulb go on when they take a great photo, or they nail a great story or they come up with an innovative graphic design. I’m the first one to talk about the awards they win, so this took me by surprise. … There was also a letter from my former editor (at Glendale). She said that I was responsible for helping her figure out what she wanted to do with her life, and now she’s editor of the Drury Mirror. When you get letters of support like that, the award is secondary.