Karin White Shares Her Empowering Story About The Power Of Journalism

Karin White, a woman of many trades, visited The Cyclone Chronicle to share her story of how she got involved in her local newspapers on Thursday, Oct. 15. 

White is from Hardwick, New Jersey, but hasn’t always been there. She’s also lived in Hope, Blairstown, and Livingston. 

White graduated from Montclair State University with a bachelor's degree in photography and art. She originally found this love for photography in high school where she was entered into a photo contest and won. She later took photos for the yearbook.

“It was really interesting to hear about the rule of thirds in photography from White,” said Joseph Romano, managing editor of The Cyclone Chronicle. “She explained that the rule of thirds in photography is when you put the main focus of your photo to the side instead of just in the center.” 

Flash forward a few years, White became a stay-at-home mom and joined the PTA and other parts of her community, as well as getting more involved in town meetings. At the age of 30, in her small town of Hope, she went to a town meeting and learned that there was a plan to put a gas station on an aquifer— an underground layer of water–bearing material.

She got involved and had the energy to send a letter to North Warren News. They published the letter and then the plan for a gas station to be built on the aquifer fell apart.

She then spent six years with the North Warren News and built a name for herself.

“I remember in the beginning I was just seen as a cute young woman at town meetings, before everyone realised I was a writer," said White. “Then, once I was doing it long enough, people would see me coming and would know.”

White wrote another handful of stories that made a difference, a few of which include a press release for St Luke's and an article that stopped semi-trucks from engine braking in the small Moravian town of Hope, New Jersey. This helps keep the buildings in the area safe and more structurally sound since the engine breaking shakes the structures and damages the historical buildings.

White spoke on many topics, but her primary topic was news is hard to trust anymore; this is why she believes that local news is incredibly important.

“We need more local news,” said White. “It's important that everyone knows what's going on. The local aspect of news lets people know what's going on in their communities.”

White uses all of this knowledge that she picked up through writing for her local news and applies it all to real estate as a realtor. She now is a very successful realtor working at Burgdorff ERA located in Hope, New Jersey, and she sits on multiple boards in her community, one of which is the Warren County Board of Realtors.

“Hearing about all her experiences was so fascinating, especially because she mentioned everything she learned connected together,” said Samantha Swayze, editor-in-chief of The Cyclone Chronicle. 

White also makes jewelry in her free time, which she sells at Gallery 23 in Blairstown, New Jersey. She also goes frequently to craft fairs to sell her work. This winter, you can keep an eye out for her at the Hope Township Craft Market in December.

White briefly touched upon AI. She's no longer in the journalism field, so she doesn't encounter AI in the same way a newspaper would; but as a realtor, she still faces AI challenges. Specifically, some realtors are using AI to write descriptions of houses.

“It's awful,”  said White. “It drives me completely and utterly nuts.”

White spoke to our student-journalists about many things and covered a little bit of everything from photography, to journalism, to making jewelry, to life as a realtor. She left our students with one final message.

“You need to get mad when writing, it gives you the passion you need.”