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Sometimes — often — obituaries hold lessons for the rest of us on how to live a good life. When I’ve written them, the lessons are from people in their 80s and older.
Mandy Jenkins was just 42.
But I know from covering and watching her career and reading all the tributes to her since her death from cancer on Feb. 26 that Jenkins was teaching as she lived.
Here are a few of the lessons she left:
** It’s always about the people.
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Jenkins worked across newsrooms from The Cincinnati Enquirer to TBD to Storyful to Mahoning Matters, which she founded. Her impact on the people she worked with shows in everything that’s been published since, from the obit ([link removed]) in her hometown newspaper to a tribute ([link removed]) from the Online News Association, where Jenkins played a key role for years, to a piece ([link removed]) in IdeaStream and another ([link removed]) in Mahoning Matters.
I saw this for myself in a 2015 piece ([link removed]) following up with some of the people who’d been laid off from Digital First Media’s Project Thunderdome. Jenkins, who was one of that newsroom’s first and last employees, spoke about what it was like to be a manager for the first time.
“I had a rare chance to lead a team of people I knew well, many of whom I’d hired, and I could do it in a safe environment with a lot of mentoring when I needed it,” she said. “I think I value that most of all.”
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** Follow change where it takes you.
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Jenkins was a leader in digital journalism throughout her career. And in that role, she embraced change.
Mahoning Matters launched in Youngstown, Ohio, with a focus on in-depth coverage. But as Ideastream Public Media reports, when the pandemic hit, Jenkins shifted quickly to focus on daily coverage people needed.
“(Jenkins) goes, ‘I really think we need to turn this organization on a dime, and do the journalism that people need now, and be more utilitarian.’ And she was right,” said Mark Sweetwood, Mahoning Matters former editor, in the Ideastream story. ([link removed])
That shift led to such growth that the newsroom had to hire more staff.
** Make room for joy.
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There’s a graf in Jenkins’ obit that I love:
“Throughout her life, Jenkins loved to consume, analyze and debate pop culture. She was a 20 year-plus subscriber to ‘Entertainment Weekly,’ and a reader of every Stephen King novel. She believed Fleetwood Mac was always the right choice, Scully was a secret alcoholic, Han shot first and Magneto was right.”
Jenkins played a huge role in our industry. But also, she traveled. She hosted parties. She nurtured careers and friendships. And she always shared what she was learning as she learned it.
That’s it for me. This newsletter will be on a two-week break and will return March 22.
Thanks for reading. Hug your people,
Kristen
Kristen Hare
Faculty
The Poynter Institute
@kristenhare ([link removed])
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