Authors In The Media Q&A With Steffani Costigan 

Recently I did a regular Q&A with author & journalist Steffani Costigan who her publicist Mickey Mikkelson was kind enough to connect me with. It was fun discussing her books. In this edition of Authors In The Media Q&A we will discuss Steffani’s journalism career which I’m very excited to do! 

Q: Steffani what made you choose to be a journalist & how long have you been a journalist for?

A: Well, the idea of being a journalist didn’t come to me until around covid time. My teacher at the time thought I would be really good in journalism and encouraged me to go into the program. I have been doing journalism now for over a year. 

Q: Some authors who are or were journalists have said different things. Some of them went to college & others didn’t have any college degree or experience. I want to know what your personal journey was like. Did you have to go to college to be a journalist or did you just apply for the job?

A: A bit of both; I took a two-year program to do journalism after successfully completing my first year in journalism. I got a summer job working for my local paper. It was meant to be just a summer job, but they liked my work so much they offered me a contract I couldn’t refuse. However, this did mean I could not complete my diploma. So, I had to pick, and after finding out I was pregnant I decided it was in my best interest to keep working rather than return to school. I do however plan to finish my school down the road. The journalism industry values experience more than the diploma that is why you sometimes encounter journalists that have not gone to school for it well others have. So, you could say I am in the middle of this, I have half of my education completed, and half of the experience. 

Q: Would you like to give a list of people you’ve interviewed in your journalism career and what those experiences were like?

A: A lot of politics, police, homeless individuals, authors, varying organizations. Every interaction is unique and different depending on the story. There have been a lot of sad interviews. My beat in journalism is crime and homelessness, so with that comes a lot of sad situations.

Q: You said in our regular Q&A that your journalism writing has taught you not to over complicate your details in your book writing. That journalism is a simple writing style where information is given with not as much detail as writing a novel. Do you enjoy writing books more or journalism writing more?

A: Oh, that is a tough one. I think it depends on the story. With Journalism it is simple and straightforward, you know the facts and where the story is going. But with creative writing there is so much more of a thought and pondering process that happens. Layering the story with details. There are different reasons I enjoy both writing styles. I enjoy the simple laying down of the facts and summary journalism writing has, but I also enjoy the creative writing process too and world building. 

Q: What are the most important lessons you’ve learned in your journalism career that you would like future journalists to know and why?

A: The most important thing I want to highlight in journalism that I think we are losing is keeping your opinion out of the story. It is a part of our code of ethics as journalist to keep our opinions out of the story. Especially with politics we are meant to be in the middle with no opinion in the story. People are smart enough that if the facts are shared, they can make up their own mind. I have witnessed some very crooked things going on behind the scenes and as a journalist you are summarizing the facts for the people. Any emotion in an article should come from quote of the interviewee not from the reporter. There are many times I have reported on political issues from both sides and people at the event will ask me “who do you support?” or “whose side are you on?” and I tell them “No one. I am not for or against.” And it makes people at the events uneasy but that is my responsibility as a journalist.