Remember high school love? Remember brainstorming for the perfect nickname? If not, Minneapolis Star Tribune youth and minority reporter Allie Shah can remind you what it’s like to be a teenager.
“My great task is to try to get more young people reading the paper,” the 1994 University of Minnesota graduate said. Shah has worked in journalism for 10 years but has only held her current position for one year. She said her job is to get the younger generation, her label for people aged 15 to 20, back into reading the paper. She is the first to do this type of reporting for the Star Tribune.
Shah spoke with Iowa Journalist students on Nov. 9, where she said that her senior year in college was similar to today. George H.W. Bush was in office, the Gulf War was taking place and the economy was bad. She remembered struggling to find a journalism job after graduation.
“Don’t be scared of rejection,” Shah said. “It happens
to everyone.”
The way Shah avoided getting discouraged about the job market was by accepting internships.
“It is nearly impossible to get a job in newspapers without doing internships while in college,” Shah said.
Through her internships, Shah had great learning experiences and created lasting friendships. When she interned at the Star Tribune in the summer of 1994, she carpooled with a fellow intern named Terry Collins. Ten years later, Collins and Shah both write for the Star Tribune and remain great friends.
When asked to share a favorite story from her current beat, Shah spoke about reporting a story in the early afternoon at the Minnesota state fair. While looking around, Shah noticed a young couple embracing in the hot dog line. Shah thought they looked perfect for her second assignment, “young love at the fair.”
“They were standing gazing into each others eyes,” Shah said “They looked so cute and in love I just had to talk to them.”
Shah wanted to get photos of the couple, but the photographer assigned to work with her was not scheduled until the evening shift. Shah left the fair thinking the couple wouldn’t work for the story because they probably would not stay all day.
“I left, and came back later that night to look for ano-
ther couple,” Shah said. “That’s when I saw the same
couple again.”
Shah returned to the fair later that night and found the couple standing by a radio DJ booth, still embracing each other...
“It was nice to find something fresh from a repeated story,” Shah said.
Shah enjoys interviewing both children and teenagers, though sometimes she finds it tricky to get them interested in talking to her.
“It’s sometimes difficult to get the teenagers to talk,” Shah said. “They can get bored after five minutes.”
In the middle of one interview a teenager, Chris ‘Shakademic’ Johnson started rapping because he was bored.
“I just let him do his thing and kept on interviewing the other students,” Shah said. “It’s best to let them let their guard down.”
She said it is often difficult dealing with younger children, but has learned that if you keep talking to them they will respond back.
