Kirsten Stromsodt
Assigning Editor
Kirsten Stromsodt started at the Herald in the fall of 1998, working as a part-time sports clerk. After graduating from the University of North Dakota in 2001, she was hired full-time on the news copy desk. Subsequently, she was promoted to news editor, night editor and assigning editor in 2009. Stromsodt is a native of rural Grand Forks County.
[ND 0201] - Part 1: Introduction & Contribution (2:07)
Kirsten Stromsodt, assigning editor, The Grand Forks Herald, started at the newspaper in 1998. Stromsodt says The Herald “practices a lot of community journalism.” She says The Herald also sees its mission in a longer perspective: “We take the idea that we document [local] history very seriously.”
[ND 0202] - Part 2: Strategic Changes (4:20)
Kirsten Stromsodt, assigning editor, The Grand Forks Herald, says The Herald News staff has been reduced in recent years, but the newspaper has retained its reporters while reducing its editors. “In the words of Mike Jacobs,” Stromsodt says, “We have more cherry pickers and fewer pie makers.” Stromsodt says the evolution of the Grand Forks Herald website has meant giving more attention to breaking news. “The information is getting out as quickly as we can get it out, and the site is always dynamic and changing,” says Stromsodt. “At one point we kinda’ got a kick in the pants” to increase the timeliness of our website, says Stromsodt. “It’s been a sea change in a very short time.”
[ND 0203] - Part 3: Adaptation & the Future (4:55)
Kirsten Stromsodt, assigning editor, The Grand Forks Herald, says the new digital news era requires a flexible reporting staff. “Some who have done one beat for decades now have to sometimes go to the fire call,” says Stromsodt. Fortunately, Stromsodt says, “Everybody in our newsroom has that little kid inside of them, and they’re willing to drop what they’re doing and run to the breaking story. And they wouldn’t want it any other way,” she says.