The Amgnjustin page was created in an effort to both educate myself and to give back to a platform that has served as a helpful and go-to research tool to me throughout the years. My name is, Justin Tucker. I'm a 46-year-old former newspaper reporter. I began studying the field of mass communications and journalism during my third year of college at C.S.U. Chico. I initially went to C.S.U Chico to earn a business degree, but after experiencing hours of frustration attempting to break down fractions into smaller fractions, I decided to change directions. After looking carefully through the course catalogs and curriculums available to third and fourth years students, I decided that my time would be better spent studying subject matter that was more practical and interesting. The journalism program at Chico State is regarded one of the best in the country and the student newspaper, The Orion, has eared awards from a variety of newspaper publisher associations throughout the country. Top graduates have gone on to become bestselling New York Times authors and editors for regional and state publications. I wanted to follow in their footsteps but struggled during the final semester to land the necessary internships and gain the treasured staff positions at The Orion that were needed to get the best jobs after graduating. I wasn't a faculty favorite and as a result didn't have a well-lit pathway directly into the field of journalism right out of school. To make matter worse terrorists attacked New York City early in the morning on September Ninth, 2001 while I was studying for one of my final exams. Job opportunities in other industries were posted in the career center at Chico State. Hiring managers from a variety of corporations and businesses conducted recruiting efforts at the school. They would post information about the company and positions available. If you were interested, you would stick your resume in a manila folder with all the other students. If the executives liked your resume, they would invite you into the career center for a face-to-face interview. I was chosen for interviews by nine employers. Unfortunately, none of them decided to hire me. Instead, after graduation, I moved back to where I lived prior to moving to Chico and ended up with the same job I had before staring my third and fourth years of college. I didn't give up on my aspirations to become a reporter for a newspaper. I would turn on my desktop computer and check my profile on journalismjobs.com nearly everyday. I sent out resumes, clips from the The Orion that I had written, tried to schedule interviews, and constantly researched opportunities all over California. After responding to numerous postings, I finally caught a break when an editor named Eric Johnson showed some interest in having me work as an un-paid intern in the editorial department of The Coast Weekly Newspaper. He said he received numerous responses to the advertisement he posted in the classified section, but the letter I wrote peaked his interest and it was the break I needed to further my career as a reporter. I worked alongside a couple of general assignment reporters and gained hands-on experience working at a newspaper. I remember writing about a young junior golfer who was less than twelve who had been featured on a couple television stations. I also wrote about a retired CIA spy, and I helped out wherever they needed a hand. The internship went well and it opened the door for me to get hired on as a paid general assignment reporter for the Mountain Democrat in Placerville, CA. I moved about 250 miles to a neighboring town called Camino. I rented a room in an old house on about seven acres. The property was located on an apple orchard in a rural and mountainous area. I remember hearing sounds from the old neighboring wood mill and walking by it from time to time. I wrote an article about the mill and the people who worked there. I also wrote about issues that were discussed at city council and planning commission meetings. The job required me to go to small-town government meetings. Camino Planning Commission meetings at small town halls where expansion plans were discussed and negotiated. My roommate at the house was an older Vietnam war veteran who had worked as photographer during the war. He was going through the aftermath of an alcohol and drug problem and he had lost his local business. His wife had filed for divorce and his kids barely spoke to him. His schedule was usually filled with issues with his car, VA appointments, drunken episodes, and health problems. I was asked to resign from the job after some lousy reporting that I did about a hospital's upgraded medical equipment. The hospital had done a lot of business with the newspaper and they were not willing to look past my inexperience and immaturity and they wanted me gone. It was a disappointment, but it gave me the opportunity to work alongside another general assignment reporter who went on to become a Deputy Attorney General, as well as some of the most successful names in the publishing business.
I continued to pursue a career in journalism and moved to Camino, CA. (a small town outside of Placerville, CA). where I was hired on as a general assignment reporter for the Mountain Democrat newspaper.
the Mariposa Gazette (near Yosemite National Park), and South County Newspapers (A Southern Monterey County weekly ). I also attended graduate school in San Francisco at a private college in the Mission District where I pursued an M.A. in media studies.