Arkansas Press Women member Josie Lenora serves as the government reporter for Little Rock Public Radio. This up and coming reporter is the recipient of the National Press Foundation’s Elections Journalism Fellowship, and she is explaining how this fellowship impacted her coverage of elections in Arkansas as well as the groundbreaking work behind Little Rock Public Radio’s impactful coverage of the 2024 election cycle.
Please tell us about yourself.
My name is Josie Lenora. I am the government reporter for Little Rock Public Radio.
I have a lot of hobbies, but really I live to work. Being a reporter is my calling. It’s the reason I get out of bed in the morning. It’s a purpose, a way of life.
I try to work as much as I can. When I am not working though, I plow through on my yearly book quota of 50 books. Right now, I have read 42. My favorite books I read this year are: “Fleishman is in Trouble” and “Sorrow and Bliss.”
My other hobby is a bit more whimsical. I buy used wooden dollhouses on Etsy and then I renovate the insides. I am a mediocre artist, but I really get lost in designing miniature rooms. I choose bright loud color schemes and “Umbrellas of Cherbourg” style wallpaper I would never choose for a house in real life. I am working on my fifth dollhouse right now.
What made you decide you wanted to go into journalism?
Short answer: all my heroes are reporters.
Long answer: I have always loved NPR from the time my parents left it on in the car as a child. I don’t know why. It’s hard to explain why you love something with all your heart.
When I was in middle school, I would spend all my pocket money on 99 cent episodes of This American Life. I would listen over and over until I knew the episodes by heart and could say the words along with the host. Sometimes when I am editing, I can still hear the words from those episodes in my head.
Before I became a reporter, I was experiencing a horrible post-college wilderness period. I was working in elder care, taking care of terminally ill senior citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic, listening constantly to podcasts and NPR.
Then three women changed my life.
There was one podcast I used to listen to on a loop. It’s called: Crime Writers On. In the podcast, four radio/crime journalists listen to podcasts and copy edit the audio. I found these discussions exhilarating. They talked about how to marry audio cuts with good writing, and how audio writing is different from other types of nonfiction. They talked about why there are some stories not worth telling, what makes some podcasts good and others great.
The main host Rebecca Lavoie is the head of on demand audio for New Hampshire Public Radio. She has this joy and passion for nonfiction storytelling that she celebrates every day in that show. When I would listen, I would identify with that love for the truth.
Lavoie says, and I generally agree, that the best piece of investigative audio journalism is a podcast called: In The Dark. The most recent season investigated a war crime in Iraq. The second season got an innocent man off death row. The host Madeline Barran is almost perfect. She is very skilled at interviewing both vulnerable or antagonistic people. She is a master of audio writing and framing the truth.
Around this time, the Golden State Killer was finally apprehended. He had committed horrible crimes for years, and his arrest brought some closure to the dozens of people he terrorized. The police used research compiled by the late journalist Michelle McNamara. In her book on the case: I’ll Be Gone In The Dark, she talks about obsession. Her ability to fixate on this one mystery and never let go caused real breakthroughs in the case. This book moved something in me. I have a quote from it on my desk. “There is a scream permanently lodged in my throat now.” That’s what it feels like to be a journalist, you want to solve mysteries and tell the truth.
In college, I did an internship at a TV station, and I couldn’t make it work. I didn’t have the face for TV. I don’t like being on camera. I am not as strong at cultural reporting as I am at research heavy reporting.
But when I looked up these three women who were my heroes, I saw myself.
About five years ago, I was on a cross country trip through Nevada. I was listening to the Crime Writers talking about In The Dark for the millionth time. I don’t know why but staring at the scorching blank Nevada skyline I realized that I didn’t have to live in this post college funk where I had no purpose. I could be like these women. I decided that I wanted to be an audio reporter.
When I got the internship at Little Rock Public Radio, it became my life. I told people the first day that this was my calling, and that I wanted to work here for a long time. People seemed a little taken aback.
Every day during the internship, I woke up and asked myself how I could improve. I recorded everything I put on air. I kept a book of notes and a log of mistakes. I listened to other reporters who were better writers than me and said: “How can I be like them?” I aimed for constant deliberative practice, intentionally thinking about where I was weak and doing work on those skills. I wanted only to be great at my job, be excellent.
The day I became the government reporter, it was the governor’s inauguration. It may have been the happiest day of my life. It was as if someone once cut off my fingers and for the first time they had been sewed back on, a missing piece of my soul returned to me. I had so much purpose.
It took a while, but I now feel really comfortable and confident in my abilities. I am not the best radio journalist out there, but every day I get better and I will never stop at my mission to be the best audio journalist I can be. It’s that striving that keeps me going.
What is the National Press Foundation’s Elections Journalism Fellowship, and how were you selected for this fellowship?
The National Press Foundation describes their mission as to “make good journalists better.” They host these free professional development conferences with themes like “Covering Equitable Community Development” or “Women in Politics Journalism.” The fellowship I attended was perfect for my job. It was called “2024 Elections.” Since Kamala Harris had just become the nominee there was a lot to talk about.
The conference was 48 hours in Detroit, MI. I barely left the hotel, but I feel like I got the real Detroit experience. The hotel was on top of a giant empty shopping mall. There were old cars in the mall, and pixelated screens with generic stock photos. The building looked like the prison in Andor, and from my room, I could see Canada.
I was chosen through an application process. In my application, I talked about the importance of local election coverage. I talked about the repetitive trickiness of covering politics in a very red state. I talked about how I view journalism as a public service I am giving to my hometown.
What was your experience with the Elections Journalism Fellowship like?
We met in an empty hotel conference room. There were about three days of sessions. For each meeting, we moved around the tables to meet other reporters. I met reporters from places like Vox and Politico.
At the conference, there was a real focus on how we as reporters could combat election misinformation. There was one session where Democratic and Republican clerks spoke on how important it is for voters on the losing side of the election to accept results.
David Becker, for The Center for Election Innovation & Research, gave a great presentation. He described accepting results as “feeling grief,” instead of lashing emotions outward falsely saying an election was stolen. I’ve thought about that a lot since I heard it. I later interviewed him about election misinformation.
Several of the other speakers talked about election conspiracy theories, getting voters to the polls, etc.
How did the fellowship impact your reporting during the 2024 election cycle?
My favorite session was when Pam Fessler formally from NPR presented a pamphlet on covering the 2024 elections. She presented so many ideas I had never thought about like doing a story on what happens to your ballot after you cast it. How are ballots designed? Are your states’ voting machines old enough? What are the rules for early voting?
For my reporting, I wrote down everything she mentioned that I hadn’t thought of and went line by line.
How do we design ballots: Link to my story here.
What happens after you cast a ballot: Link to my story here.
How do I vote early: Here is my breakdown.
What types of stories did you cover during the 2024 election cycle?
As a group, the news team reached out to every person who was running for office in Central Arkansas. For each race, we made segments where we tried to compare and contrast the candidates. Our goal is not to tell anyone who to vote for, but instead give everyone the best information possible. This way they can make their own choice.
That also went for ballot initiatives. I know that when I first became registered to vote, I struggled to know what to do about ballot initiatives. I didn’t understand them well. I did some reporting trying to break the 2024 initiatives down in plain language. This is an addition to other ongoing reporting I have done on those amendments.
We called this body of segments: Arkansas Decides. We were playing off the title of the Succession episode: America Decides. I think Daniel Breen came up with that name.
What stories were your favorites?
There has been a huge push in Arkansas for counting ballots by hand and not by machine. I think my story on it did a good job balancing both arguments.
What are some of the most interesting things you learned from covering elections in Arkansas this year?
I love why everyone chose to run for office. Just vying for a position can be a big thankless job, so it’s interesting to learn what makes people do it. Everyone seemed to describe their decision as a calling.
What are some of the innovative ways that Little Rock Public Radio covered the election cycle?
This is certainly the biggest election content output we have had. I think the sheer bulk of the stories and breath made us stand out. I really hope listeners went into the voting booth and when they saw names for the lesser covered legislative races or state positions they thought: “Oh, I heard these people talk about themselves on NPR. I know who I am voting for.”
Where can we read/listen to your stories?
Here is my byline: https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/people/josie-lenora
Is there anything else you would like to add?
I say this all the time, but I am part of an amazing newsroom. I led the election coverage but everyone did their part to make it special. Maggie Ryan did an excellent election night live show. Nathan Treece did great coverage of the city board races. Daniel Breen is just an all-around wonderful manager and person. He really works to build up his employees and help them do their best. I couldn’t have asked for a better team.
I am also very grateful to General Manager Jonathan Seaborn for the work he has done to help us build the newsroom and our programming and membership teams.
I cannot believe I get to be a radio journalist in my hometown. I am so grateful for this life.