{"id":2933,"date":"2016-04-13T18:40:08","date_gmt":"2016-04-13T18:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/?p=2933"},"modified":"2016-06-02T18:08:48","modified_gmt":"2016-06-02T18:08:48","slug":"cc-grad-receives-national-attention-for-investigative-feature","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/atb\/2016\/04\/13\/cc-grad-receives-national-attention-for-investigative-feature\/","title":{"rendered":"CC Grad Receives National Attention for Investigative Feature"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Montana Bass \u201918<\/strong><\/p>\n

Tay Wiles \u201908 recently got her big break in a journalism career, sparked here at CC, with a feature-length story in High Country News<\/em><\/a>, where she is an editor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a winter start,\u201d Wiles says of her introduction to both CC and the start of her journalistic career came during her first year at CC when, \u201cI saw a copy of the Cipher.<\/em> I remember thinking immediately, \u2018I want to work for that.\u2019\u201d And that\u2019s exactly what she did. Wiles went on to become editor-in-chief of the Cipher <\/em>during her senior year, preparation for her later success. That year, the team received a grant and Wiles was able to help transform the magazine from an extremely radical publication to the more balanced, literary reportage it provides today. \u201cI love that in college publications, there\u2019s a lot of turn over. It makes it difficult, but it also makes for a huge range of alumni who feel invested in it,\u201d says Wiles.<\/p>\n

She also worked in both the news and music departments at KRCC during her time as a student. Jeff Bieri, KRCC program manager, hired Wiles as his assistant when he worked as music director. He says she \u201cwas absolutely eating up the experience of learning here at CC, getting involved in every opportunity that came her way to gain experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent feature for HCN, \u201cSugar Pine Mine: The Other Standoff,\u201d was Wiles\u2019 first feature since her years at CC, the first in her professional career, and it has received national recognition. The publication of the story aligned fortuitously with national media attention to developments in the conflict. HCN<\/em> capitalized on the spike in national interest, posting new updates and teasers from Wiles\u2019 feature on the website in the days leading up to its release. \u201cIt sort of dovetailed,\u201d says Wiles. \u201cIt was really exciting to me because I felt that all the work I\u2019d been doing over the previous year really came to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prior to HCN, <\/em>she earned a degree in religion with a journalism minor from CC. \u201cA lot of why I was interested in religion was that I really like to try to understand how people perceive their world, how they understand the forces that put them where they are, and how they fit into society,\u201d she explains. Her intense curiosity translated well into her work in investigative environmental journalism with HCN.<\/em><\/p>\n

The year after she graduated, Wiles completed a fellowship with Mother Jones <\/em>magazine in San Francisco, which she credits for her precise editing skills. \u201cThey really go after environmental justice \u2014 hard. I was always fact-checking, meeting with editors, making sure that stories were air-tight so we wouldn\u2019t come under fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cSugar Pine Mine\u201d story was a part of the \u201cSagebrush Rebellion\u201d issue, and drew on those skills. Wiles expertly reports the story of a mining dispute between the radical Oath Keepers and federal\u00a0government in Josephine County, Oregon, which caused a standoff that threatened to erupt into an armed battle.<\/p>\n

Wiles continues to prove herself as an excellent journalist by landing the editing position at HCN, <\/em>a publication she cares for deeply, just over five years after completing her fellowship. \u201cI love that it\u2019s a small, tight-knit team,\u201d she says of working at HCN<\/em>, \u201cWe really try to pick ideas that mean something to people. We get people calling who say \u2018Hey I\u2019m calling from Idaho. This is what\u2019s going on for me,\u2019 and if it\u2019s good we\u2019ll write it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Montana Bass \u201918 Tay Wiles \u201908 recently got her big break in a journalism career, sparked here at CC, with a feature-length story in High Country News, where she is an editor. \u201cI was a winter start,\u201d Wiles says of her introduction to both CC and the start of her journalistic career came during … <\/p>\n

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