Anna Ta (’20) majored in English with a special interest in race and American Literature. She is currently a journalist at the Star Tribune, the largest newspaper in Minnesota. In our November alumna interview, learn what Anna has to say about working in journalism and how her Rice undergraduate experience as an English major has influenced her as a writer. 

When did you graduate from Rice? What has post-graduation life been like for you?

I graduated in May 2020, right into the pandemic. When you’re a student, it can feel like all your time is spent being a student, to the point where it eclipses your identity. In the time since graduation, I’ve learned to take ownership over my time and get to spend it on things that interest me. And it’s nice to have an income. 

What line of work are you currently in? What does it entail? How long have you been doing it for? Do you enjoy it?

I’m a journalist (specifically an audience engagement producer) at the Star Tribune. I do what’s called ‘audience work,’ which encompasses everything that a newspaper does to try to get people to read the articles reporters spend their time meticulously researching and writing. That means writing headlines, curating what stories are on the homepage, social media, newsletters, push alerts, etc. I specialize in turning articles into engaging content for audiences on social media.

What are some of the challenges involved in “audience work”? Have you learned anything unexpected through this sort of work?

So much of the job is about having good judgment. You deal with dozens of stories flooding in every day and you have to keep on top of how those stories are being presented to your audience. So not only are you thinking about how to write a headline that people will click, you also have to think about if the headline accurately represents the story, if it’s a fair characterization, and jeez, all in, like, 30 words. And that kind of consideration applies to all the work, from photo choice to formatting it for certain platforms.

Since social media news content is more engaging, do you think those platforms will replace the more traditional means of news consumption such as newspapers?

People get their news from a variety of sources. Young people do tend to get a lot of their news from social media. I think print newspapers and websites will always be around; but people will also always want to get news from social media. And, as I’m sure everyone is aware, a lot of “news” you can find on social media is misinformation and multiplies quickly. So, news publications need to invest in creating engaging, comprehensive content for social media, not only for their own sustainability and brand awareness, but to help combat this existential issue.

What are the most engaging stories that you have worked on? 

I started work at the Star Tribune a few days after George Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police, and worked on the trial of Derek Chauvin. I’ve also worked here through the high profile police killings of two other Black men, Daunte Wright and Winston Smith. During massive news events, I’m just one of over a dozen hands on a wheel. As a fellow, I worked with all the articles, photos and videos being produced to make sure I was creating a complete portrait of the story and the weight of the events as they were occurring. It’s a demanding line of work, but the potential of impact is large and can be very rewarding.

What is something that surprises you while working in journalism?

Everyone likes to talk about “the media” as if it’s a single organism, not something that consists of hundreds of disparate newsrooms and thousands of individuals making different decisions. There are journalists in almost every room agitating for positive change and progress; not everyone agrees on what direction to move in or what to prioritize, but the people who take up this line of work tend to care immensely about the work and the communities they’re serving.

You talked about “the media” as cooperative work involving the decision making of many journalists. What does this sort of work look like practically? What has your role been like in these situations, especially as a new journalist?

When people think of what a journalist looks like, a lot of people think of reporters. But there are also photojournalists, videographers and designers that contribute to the visual storytelling. And there are editors who work on the copy and help make decisions, audience editors who write headlines and shape framing, and audience producers who create content from that content. As a producer, I rely on everyone in the newsroom. My favorite part of doing audience work is that it’s inextricable from everyone else’s work. I’m lucky to be in an environment that encourages creativity and exploration on my part and to get to shape coverage in small ways with the knowledge that my ability to do so will increase as my career progresses.

We’re also wondering how news companies strike the balance between what attracts the audience’s attention and what is impactful and socially important re: the news they prioritize?

That balance varies between news companies. Reputable newsrooms always prioritize newsworthiness. It’s the job of the audience team in any newsroom to make content engaging; not the newsroom’s job to make content just for the sake of engaging.

When did you begin to consider a career in journalism, and what experiences (pre-undergrad, at Rice, or post-graduation) influenced that decision? 

I wrote for the Rice Thresher as soon as I was allowed to start; this was certainly helped by the fact that the editor-in-chief at the time, Yasna Haghdoost who is currently a Bloomington Iran reporter, and the next year’s EIC were at Will Rice with me. Shameless Will Rice plug. Also, I was managing editor and one of my Will Rice O-Week freshmen was an EIC after me. Just saying.

Besides writing for the Thresher, how else were you involved as an undergraduate at Rice?

I was pretty involved in college government. I spent two years as an at-large representative and worked on a couple committees, including the senior committee. At the college level, I was also a Peer Academic Advisor and an Academic Fellow. I also was a Vice President (I think? Or maybe I was the secretary?) of the English Undergraduate Association. 

How did your training in the English major help you for the type of work you’re now currently doing?

If anything, being successful as an English major means that you have to be a pretty critical thinker and detail-oriented when it comes to language. It helps that I spent a lot of time taking classes that gave me the historical and theoretical context behind racialization in the U.S. — something that has proven quite invaluable when it comes to understanding the media’s role in creating or perpetuating certain narratives, and my own position and agency within that mechanism. 

What do you most fondly remember or what are your main takeaways from being a Rice English major? What was your favorite English class at Rice and how does that affect you as a writer?

I loved being an English major! With every class I learned so much that I felt like a new person every year. I always felt a bond with my classmates and I was reminded all the time of how lucky I was to be learning alongside people with such sharp and unique insights into the literature or theory we were reading. I really, honestly loved so many of my classes. My introductory class with Dr. Ellenzweig really set the stage for the rest of my education and also introduced me to several lifelong friends. My Asian American literature classes with Dr. Comer and Dr. Marte-Wood taught me how to better understand my racial positionality and gave me the opportunity to use the lens of my lived experiences as an Asian woman to understand literary art. I also took a Harlem Renaissance literature class with Dr. Waligora-Davis that I still think about every once and a while in everyday life. 

What would you say is the strength of a formal training in the humanities and its application beyond the university, in the “real world”?

I’m not sure how to quantify critical thinking skills, especially because it sounds so much like a buzzword, but they’re useful beyond just writing essays or understanding dense theory. Humanities classes push you to question your assumptions and challenge you to be thoughtful and conscientious about everything you argue. Paired with an understanding of history and context, it’s a great foundation for understanding the world and parsing through current events and politics. 

What is it like navigating between work as well as life outside of work, particularly while working on such heavy but important topics? Has it been difficult to emotionally step away from work at these times?

Most journalists are chronically online and that’s even more true for people who work on audience engagement and social media. It can be really easy to trick yourself into thinking you have to know everything that’s happening on Twitter as it’s happening. Over the past year and a half, I’ve had to learn how to separate social media as my job and social media in my personal time. After a couple months working in this field, I actually found that after spending 8 hours a day monitoring social media and creating content for it, I’m not interested in mindless scrolling in my off time.

What advice would you give, if you could, to your undergraduate self?

In my experience, Rice students will take on responsibilities and expectations until they reach absolute capacity. I used to feel really guilty about watching a 20 minute YouTube video when I could’ve been using that time to study. I also used to hear English majors say all the time that they had no time to read (including myself). So, my advice would be to prioritize and learn how to take time for myself.