This year has been called many things: exhausting, chaotic, uncertain, unprecedented, surreal, etc. We’re nine months in, and all of these words still apply. 

In the last week of 2020, as we are shifting our attention to the new year, I sat down with three PublicSource team members for candid interviews. The topics we covered ranged from finding your workflow during the pandemic to building relationships with new team members over Zoom. 

For this episode we’re turning the microphone to my PublicSource colleagues. You’ll meet Jennie Liska, director of loyalty programs, Naomi Harris, our new higher education reporter, and Jay Manning, visual storyteller and producer.

First up, Jay Manning. Jay is a visual storyteller and producer at PublicSource. A Brazilian martial arts fighter and musician, Jay brings a lot of creativity and passion to our newsroom, and that has come through to you, our readers, in the form of his photos and video work.

For Part 2, Naomi Harris shares how she has started as a higher education reporter at PublicSource in November during the pandemic and has met only one of her colleagues in person so far. A fan of anime, Naomi talks about her research and sourcing for the upcoming stories on localizing college debt.

For Part 3, Jennie Liska, PublicSource’s director of loyalty programs, talks how she has navigated this year as a working mom of two kids, both of them are not even 10. An avid reader, Jennie talks about how lines have blurred between work and home and how our team has worked to serve our readers when the times called for it.

Enjoy. And Happy New Year.

Please get in touch with ideas for 2021 at jourdan@publicsource.org.

Jourdan Hicks is a community correspondent at PublicSource. She can be reached at jourdan@publicsource.org.

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Jourdan is a senior community correspondent at PublicSource. Previously, Jourdan was engaged as a community-based educator in the Hazelwood section of the city. A lifelong Pittsburgh resident, she’s...