{"id":50,"date":"2024-04-18T17:45:39","date_gmt":"2024-04-18T17:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/?page_id=50"},"modified":"2024-04-25T03:08:02","modified_gmt":"2024-04-25T03:08:02","slug":"case-study-katherine-reynolds-lewis","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/case-study-katherine-reynolds-lewis\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Katherine Reynolds Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Katherine Reynolds Lewis poses for a portrait during the Journalism and Women Symposium Conference and Mentoring Program on Saturday, Oct. 14, 2023. Lewis is a freelance journalist, and one of the founders of the Institute for Independent Journalists. \/ Photo by Madeline Papcun, UConn Journalism <\/p>\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-1024x683.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-1024x683.jpg\" alt class=\"wp-image-51\" srcset=\"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-2048x1365.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/files\/2024\/04\/IMG_1177-1080x720.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\">
Kather\u00adine Reynolds Lewis pos\u00ades for a por\u00adtrait dur\u00ading the Octo\u00adber 2023 Jour\u00adnal\u00adism and Women Sym\u00adpo\u00adsium Con\u00adfer\u00adence and Men\u00adtor\u00ading Pro\u00adgram. Lewis is a free\u00adlance jour\u00adnal\u00adist and a founder of the Insti\u00adtute for Inde\u00adpen\u00addent Jour\u00adnal\u00adists. Pho\u00adto by Made\u00adline Pap\u00adcun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By Made\u00adline Pap\u00adcun<\/a> | UConn Jour\u00adnal\u00adism
April 2024<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kather\u00adine Reynolds Lewis believes when her son was born 19 years ago, the news indus\u00adtry was \u201cmuch worse than it is now\u201d at accom\u00admo\u00addat\u00ading work\u00ading moth\u00aders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly would have col\u00adleagues say\u00ading, \u2018Thanks for stop\u00adping by today, Kather\u00adine,\u2019 when I left at 5 p.m.,\u201d Lewis said in a phone inter\u00adview in Octo\u00adber 2023. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis was once explic\u00adit\u00adly told by anoth\u00ader col\u00adleague that a per\u00adson \u201ccan\u00adnot be a good par\u00adent and also a jour\u00adnal\u00adist,\u201d she recalled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the ear\u00adly 2000s, Lewis found the \u201cgen\u00ader\u00adal news\u00adroom cul\u00adture was not con\u00adducive to par\u00adent\u00ading.\u201d As a nation\u00adal reporter for Bloomberg from 1998 to 2002, Lewis cov\u00adered finan\u00adcial and com\u00admodi\u00adties pol\u00adi\u00adcy and reg\u00adu\u00adla\u00adtors like the USDA and Con\u00adgress, and also media and tele\u00adcom pol\u00adi\u00adcy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis saw very few moms at Bloomberg, and the ones that were there were always \u201cstretched so thin,\u201d she said. At a time when Lewis her\u00adself was con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ading hav\u00ading kids, this wasn\u2019t an appeal\u00ading future. Lewis was also grow\u00ading tired of writ\u00ading sto\u00adries where \u201cthe goal was to beat the com\u00adpe\u00adti\u00adtion by 10 to 20 min\u00adutes.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was look\u00ading to move into more enter\u00adprise report\u00ading, and got the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to do so at New\u00adhouse News Ser\u00advice from March 2003 to Novem\u00adber 2008. At New\u00adhouse, she was a nation\u00adal cor\u00adre\u00adspon\u00addent cov\u00ader\u00ading mon\u00adey, work, and fam\u00adi\u00adly issues, mean\u00ading her work was most\u00adly enter\u00adprise, fea\u00adtures and news analy\u00adsis \u2014 or, as she explained it, \u201cnot just say\u00ading \u2018this hap\u00adpened.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a real\u00adly great fit to not be in break\u00ading news,\u201d she said. Lewis thought this was the job she would retire from. It\u2019s also where she dis\u00adcov\u00adered some work-life bal\u00adance. She could plan around her kids \u2014 in a more enter\u00adprise-focused role, Lewis could man\u00adage her sched\u00adule to meet dead\u00adlines and get to day\u00adcare pick up on time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At first, Lewis still not\u00aded she was the \u201conly per\u00adson leav\u00ading at 5 p.m.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

How\u00adev\u00ader in Sum\u00admer 2008, her bureau chief warned that \u201cevery\u00adone need\u00aded a \u2018Plan B\u2019.\u201d Even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly the entire bureau was closed. Lewis was laid off, with a 4\u2011year-old son and a 2\u2011year-old daugh\u00adter at home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

As scary as it was, Lewis not\u00aded los\u00ading this job was a turn\u00ading point. Since Novem\u00adber 2008, Lewis has worked as an inde\u00adpen\u00addent jour\u00adnal\u00adist. She no longer has to hear com\u00adments about when she leaves the office \u2014 her sched\u00adule is now up to her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis makes a good liv\u00ading through free\u00adlanc\u00ading report\u00ading and speak\u00ading engage\u00adments. She wrote a book<\/a> in 2018. In sum\u00admer 2022, she co-found\u00aded the Insti\u00adtute for Inde\u00adpen\u00addent Jour\u00adnal\u00adists<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Insti\u00adtute for Inde\u00adpen\u00addent Jour\u00adnal\u00adists \u2014 IIJ, for short \u2014  is \u201can edu\u00adca\u00adtion, pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal devel\u00adop\u00adment, and mutu\u00adal sup\u00adport orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion for inde\u00adpen\u00addent jour\u00adnal\u00adists, focus\u00ading on Black, Indige\u00adnous and peo\u00adple of col\u00ador,\u201d accord\u00ading to their LinkedIn page. Their mis\u00adsion is \u201cfinan\u00adcial and emo\u00adtion\u00adal sus\u00adtain\u00adabil\u00adi\u00adty for inde\u00adpen\u00addent jour\u00adnal\u00adists of col\u00ador, through com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty learn\u00ading, inno\u00adva\u00adtion and advo\u00adca\u00adcy.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Lewis, the IIJ is at its core a place to learn new things and share strate\u00adgies and resources. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a source of shared wis\u00addom in the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty of inde\u00adpen\u00addent jour\u00adnal\u00adists,\u201d she said. \u201cWe need to pool our wis\u00addom.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lewis said she is able to free\u00adlance as a career by mak\u00ading sure any project she takes on encom\u00adpass\u00ades one of the fol\u00adlow\u00ading: pay, pas\u00adsion, or ful\u00adfill\u00adment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lewis not\u00aded she likes being inde\u00adpen\u00addent because she gets to decide her pri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adties her\u00adself \u2014 espe\u00adcial\u00adly in regards to man\u00adag\u00ading her home life with her kids and her work sched\u00adule. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInde\u00adpen\u00addent doesn\u2019t mean home and work nev\u00ader con\u00adflict,\u201d Lewis said. \u201cBut it does mean I can decide what to pri\u00ador\u00adi\u00adtize.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
NEXT: Case Study \u2014 Sana Siwolop<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Made\u00adline Pap\u00adcun | UConn Jour\u00adnal\u00adismApril 2024 Kather\u00adine Reynolds Lewis believes when her son was born 19 years ago, the news indus\u00adtry was \u201cmuch worse than it is now\u201d at accom\u00admo\u00addat\u00ading work\u00ading moth\u00aders.  \u201cI lit\u00ader\u00adal\u00adly would have col\u00adleagues say\u00ading, \u2018Thanks for stop\u00adping by today, Kather\u00adine,\u2019 when I left at 5 p.m.,\u201d Lewis said in a\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":908,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-50","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/908"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216,"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50\/revisions\/216"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/digitaljournalism.uconn.edu\/journalism-mothers-caregivers\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}