Adobe Stock
Audio By Carbonatix
Please allow us to introduce you to our newest staff writer, Austin Wood. In his time covering Dallas for the Lake Highlands Advocate, he showed a keen knack for covering City Hall and reporting on a host of other areas important to our readers. He’s already given us some great things to read, in fact. We’re happy to have him join the team, and we think you’ll be happy about the addition as well.
We asked Austin a few questions so that you can get to know him a bit better.
How long have you lived in North Texas?
Pretty much forever, unless you count semesters away during college. The first place I lived was an apartment, maybe two blocks away from Medical City.
Where did you go to high school and college?
Jesuit Dallas for high school. I’d say it was a very formative learning experience. We had some talented teachers across a lot of subjects, which is especially beneficial when you’re pretty far from being a polymath or chemist.
After graduation, I went to Texas Tech. No humidity was a pretty big sticking point when I met with my high school college advisors. Toward the end of my freshman year, I decided to pursue a career in journalism and, again, was fortunate to have several great mentors in the classroom.
What is your favorite thing about Dallas?
It’d have to be the neighborhoods. Previously covering a neighborhood hyperlocally and being from here both give me an appreciation for what each pocket has to offer. It would take me a while to run out of new things to see here. Plus, being from a newer neighborhood probably made me appreciate some of the pretty diverse architectural styles we have in Dallas.
You can also literally find a great bite anywhere you go. That, along with the fact that every block has something different to say, is part of the reason I’m really looking forward to covering more of my hometown.
What is your least favorite thing about Dallas?
We’re still waiting on an H-E-B.
In your time as a reporter, what are the topics you feel are most important to Dallas readers and why?
We’re living at an intersectional time in Dallas. People have a lot of questions about everything from garbage collection to the future of City Hall. Budgeting on Marilla Street is growing harder with revenue caps, DART trying to avoid a mass exodus by member cities and there’s still a lot of uncertainty about downtown’s future. Not to mention everything happening nationally. So I think people are very curious about what Dallas will look like in 10 years.
It’s also been my experience that readers want to hear how national events or local changes are affecting their neighbors on a personal level. I feel it’s a lot easier for readers to contextualize things when you can deliver a meaningful human impact piece.
