Thomas Ritchie

The Changes of Journalism

Thomas Ritchie is from Waterloo, he went to Mount Marty College in South Dakota and graduated with a degree in Mass Communication. He now works for Great West Casualty Company it is an insurance trucking company. His role is a digital media strategist. He is also a creative project leader, website designer, and storyteller who tells people what the company brings to the table.

Before he went into marketing he worked in journalism for 25 years. He worked at Sioux Falls Argus Leader and was the editor of the Weekend when it was new.

When asked why he left journalism for marketing he said “Journalism had died.” He didn’t mean it actually dies but more the old way, he said “writing with pens” to the get story for the newspaper. Journalism has changed to magazines, a day paper, and media consumption and is different now that opinion-based story has taken over and is opinion driven now. Social media changed everything from a reporting perspective.

When he was still in journalism the most interesting story he wrote was about a guy who was 100 years old “The secret to longevity was cigars and sex.” He was also able to meet every single presidential candidate besides the 16th. And it was exciting to work for a big media company and cover many stories that were fun.

When he left journalism for marketing, journalism was slowly declining, and building websites on the side. So he decided to start a company building websites and got into social media. Because he could be his own boss and make more money.

When asked if he misses journalism he said “I miss journalism every day.”