Pam and Chris Miller:
Siblings' early interest in news leads to satisfying careers
By Angelo Gentile, editor,
Minneapolis Star Tribune Specialty Publications Group
Nov. 4, 2009 -
Two siblings who play key roles in the Star Tribune's newsroom pursued their interest in journalism from a young age.
Pam Miller, one of two night metro editors, and her brother, Chris, who is the team leader for Minnesota Vikings coverage in sports, both were reporters and editors for their student newspaper, The Lincoln Torch, when they were high school students in Lake City, Minn.
A couple of Army brats, the siblings traveled extensively with their family - they have a younger sister, the Rev. Cathy Miller Northrup, who is a Presbyterian minister in Wichita, Kan. - before settling in Lake City.
So why the early and strong interest in journalism?
"I'm a busy body - I like to know about things, everything," Pam joked recently, as she mused about her chosen profession.
Chris said he loved sports from an early age - he played varsity basketball at Lake City's Lincoln High School - but had to eventually concede that he was a better writer than athlete.
Additionally, both agreed that working in news is, well, always new. "I think I'm probably like a lot of us in this business," Chris said. "Everything is new and interesting every day, so that keeps my job new and interesting, too."
Chris and the Vikings
Indeed, for Chris, 51, leading the Vikings coverage this season is particularly compelling. The local pro footballers were already popular, but, with the addition of Brett Favre, the interest in the Vikings has reached giant proportions.
Case in point? On the day Favre signed with Minnesota, Aug. 18, Startribune.com had more than 5.4 million page views, breaking the previous records of more than 5.3 million views for the day after the 2008 presidential election, and the nearly 4.6 million views the day after the I-35W bridge collapse in August of 2007.
As team leader, Chris coordinates overall planning; leads the coverage for special Vikings sections published weekly during the season (four pages every Sunday, six pages on Mondays) and for non-print, multi-platform offerings such as Access Vikings; touches base with reporters; checks in at night via BlackBerry and pitches in on other, non-Viking coverage.
Chris comes to his current position with broad sports writing and editing experience. He has been a team leader since 2005, and started at the Star Tribune in 1999 as a sports copy editor. Before the Star Tribune, he worked at the Duluth News Tribune for 15 years, including stints as that paper's college hockey beat writer and, eventually, as sports editor. He started his news career at the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia, Minn., after graduating with a Journalism degree from the University of Minnesota.
Chris and his wife, Mary, live in Centerville and have five children - Zachary, 21, Moriah, 18, Hannah, 16, Elizabeth, 6, and Avamarie, 1. The two youngest are adopted from China.
Pam and the night side
Pam, 53, also finds her job engaging. As a night metro editor, she's in charge of breaking news at night, which involves supervising reporters, editing copy, monitoring the competition, and, essentially, "keeping all the trains on the track, keeping things moving to production."
The topics and news stories covered are diverse. "Crime is a big part of it - what's heard on the police scanner, tornadoes... the 'bad things' that happen at night."
As Pam explained, "We cover things fast at night." She added that she thrives on "surfing the deadlines. We have three waves of deadlines through the night."
Plus, she said, given the reality of smaller staff sizes these days, "We do whatever needs to be done."
Pam also brings extensive experience to her job. She has worked at the Star Tribune for more than 21 years in various news gathering roles. Before the Star Tribune, Pam worked as an editor and reporter for the Anchorage Daily News for two years and for the Duluth News Tribune for eight years.
She holds a BA degree in Journalism and Anthropology from the University of Minnesota, and a master's degree in English from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Pam, who has a 20-year-old son, Noah, splits her time between homes in Robbinsdale and Lake City.
The road ahead
As news veterans, the Millers have seen dramatic changes in the newspaper industry over the years, including the emergence of 24-hour news cycles and multi-media approaches to getting out the news. They remain hopeful about the industry's future.
Pam and Chris agreed that, while the form in which people get their news and sports will continue to change, the need for and interest in that information will remain.
"The gathering of news, whatever the delivery system, is still needed," Pam said. "I do have hope for print."
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Your journalist cousins
Pam and Chris Miller:
Siblings' early interest in news leads to satisfying careers
By Angelo Gentile, editor,
Minneapolis Star Tribune Specialty Publications Group
Nov. 4, 2009 -
Two siblings who play key roles in the Star Tribune's newsroom pursued their interest in journalism from a young age.
Pam Miller, one of two night metro editors, and her brother, Chris, who is the team leader for Minnesota Vikings coverage in sports, both were reporters and editors for their student newspaper, The Lincoln Torch, when they were high school students in Lake City, Minn.
A couple of Army brats, the siblings traveled extensively with their family - they have a younger sister, the Rev. Cathy Miller Northrup, who is a Presbyterian minister in Wichita, Kan. - before settling in Lake City.
So why the early and strong interest in journalism?
"I'm a busy body - I like to know about things, everything," Pam joked recently, as she mused about her chosen profession.
Chris said he loved sports from an early age - he played varsity basketball at Lake City's Lincoln High School - but had to eventually concede that he was a better writer than athlete.
Additionally, both agreed that working in news is, well, always new. "I think I'm probably like a lot of us in this business," Chris said. "Everything is new and interesting every day, so that keeps my job new and interesting, too."
Chris and the Vikings
Indeed, for Chris, 51, leading the Vikings coverage this season is particularly compelling. The local pro footballers were already popular, but, with the addition of Brett Favre, the interest in the Vikings has reached giant proportions.
Case in point? On the day Favre signed with Minnesota, Aug. 18, Startribune.com had more than 5.4 million page views, breaking the previous records of more than 5.3 million views for the day after the 2008 presidential election, and the nearly 4.6 million views the day after the I-35W bridge collapse in August of 2007.
As team leader, Chris coordinates overall planning; leads the coverage for special Vikings sections published weekly during the season (four pages every Sunday, six pages on Mondays) and for non-print, multi-platform offerings such as Access Vikings; touches base with reporters; checks in at night via BlackBerry and pitches in on other, non-Viking coverage.
Chris comes to his current position with broad sports writing and editing experience. He has been a team leader since 2005, and started at the Star Tribune in 1999 as a sports copy editor. Before the Star Tribune, he worked at the Duluth News Tribune for 15 years, including stints as that paper's college hockey beat writer and, eventually, as sports editor. He started his news career at the Mesabi Daily News in Virginia, Minn., after graduating with a Journalism degree from the University of Minnesota.
Chris and his wife, Mary, live in Centerville and have five children - Zachary, 21, Moriah, 18, Hannah, 16, Elizabeth, 6, and Avamarie, 1. The two youngest are adopted from China.
Pam and the night side
Pam, 53, also finds her job engaging. As a night metro editor, she's in charge of breaking news at night, which involves supervising reporters, editing copy, monitoring the competition, and, essentially, "keeping all the trains on the track, keeping things moving to production."
The topics and news stories covered are diverse. "Crime is a big part of it - what's heard on the police scanner, tornadoes... the 'bad things' that happen at night."
As Pam explained, "We cover things fast at night." She added that she thrives on "surfing the deadlines. We have three waves of deadlines through the night."
Plus, she said, given the reality of smaller staff sizes these days, "We do whatever needs to be done."
Pam also brings extensive experience to her job. She has worked at the Star Tribune for more than 21 years in various news gathering roles. Before the Star Tribune, Pam worked as an editor and reporter for the Anchorage Daily News for two years and for the Duluth News Tribune for eight years.
She holds a BA degree in Journalism and Anthropology from the University of Minnesota, and a master's degree in English from the University of Minnesota-Duluth.
Pam, who has a 20-year-old son, Noah, splits her time between homes in Robbinsdale and Lake City.
The road ahead
As news veterans, the Millers have seen dramatic changes in the newspaper industry over the years, including the emergence of 24-hour news cycles and multi-media approaches to getting out the news. They remain hopeful about the industry's future.
Pam and Chris agreed that, while the form in which people get their news and sports will continue to change, the need for and interest in that information will remain.
"The gathering of news, whatever the delivery system, is still needed," Pam said. "I do have hope for print."
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