A Day in Fort Worth with Journalist Kate Mazade

Kate Mazade is a writer and journalist based in Fort Worth, Texas, where she covers community news and culture for FTWtoday. She also serves as the design critic for Madame Architect and recently published Dearest Babe: Letters from a WWII Flight Surgeon with Kelly Farris Mazade. Kate’s day involves checking the 24-hour news cycle and ever-present emails, eating lack-luster meals, and finding new things to love about Fort Worth.

6:00am: I’ve always been an early morning person. My brain works best when it’s fresh, so I’m protective of the first couple hours of the day when it’s quiet and my time is my own.

I make a cup of coffee and work on one of my personal projects. I write (or rewrite) my next Madame Architect column, check emails or update accounts for the book I recently published with my mom, or edit chapters for an upcoming project.

*Kelly Farris Mazade, my mom and coauthor, and I had our first book signing in the garden of a local teahouse.*

7:30am: Despite the fact that I work from home, I get ready every day because it helps me feel productive and prepared to head out to cover a story. I shower, dress, and make my bed (the secret to a good day). Then I eat some breakfast — my current kick is a smoothie and a slice of cinnamon toast — and sit down at my desk.

8:00am: Every journalist’s day starts with reading the news and checking emails. You can’t help people stay up to date unless you are in the know yourself.

8:30am: I meet with my co-editor or regional manager and we discuss the articles we’re writing or new ways to engage our audience, support local businesses, or build community.

9:00am: Then I dive deep into writing our daily newsletter — our parent company 6AM City publishes local news in 25 cities around the country. I highlight local events, collect briefs of city goings-on, and write an article about what makes Fort Worth unique.

Sometimes we have a pre-planned piece about the city’s history or cultural trend, and sometimes we write on-the-fly about an upcoming development or new restaurant. Recently, I’ve covered how to read cattle brands, the history of the Bass Hall angel sculptures, and where Kendrick Lamar’s new music video was filmed in Fort Worth. Every day is a little bit different and the variety of stories has taught me how every aspect of a city — from food to infrastructure to the people who live there — builds a community.

12:00pm: I pass my copy off to my co-editor (because everyone needs an editor). We switch off between writing and editing daily to keep us fresh, engaged, and make us better writers and editors. While she edits, I eat some lunch. I have yet to break out of my 5th grade lunch habits, so usually I have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or leftovers.

“*I’m now that person who takes photos of her food and drinks although I know that everyone is looking at me. It’s for work, people.”*

1:00pm: Around midday, I resolve edits, source photos, and build the newsletter on our webpage and newsletter platform. I also prep social media posts (because if we’re all honest with ourselves, we get most of our news from Instagram).

3:00pm: I spend the last couple hours of the workday researching stories, answering emails, taking photos, or covering events. Sometimes I’ll visit a new pop-up bar or attend an art fair, scope out a construction site, or interview a civic leader. I can almost always find a new snack that needs to be tasted — can’t let our readers go uninformed about snow cones or unusual drinks.

4:30pm: My work set up is pretty mobile, so I can work from wherever I am when I’m out and about in the community. (Which actually means that I take calls from my car and prop my laptop up on the steering wheel — not while I’m driving, of course.) I do another news sweep to pick up anything that has broken during the day and schedule the newsletter to go out at 6 a.m. the next morning.

5:30pm: By the time the workday is over, I have stared at a screen for nearly 12 hours, so I try to get outside for some fresh air and exercise. I live next to a trail, so I walk or jog along the river. I recently joined the Fort Worth Rowing Club, so sometimes I head to the boathouse and spend a couple hours trying not to fall in the water.

*Nothing like a sunset row to end the day.*

Once a week, I ditch the exercise and meet my friends at a local brewery for trivia — which usually consists of us missing every question and teasing each other about whose fault it was.

7:00pm: Then it’s time for some dinner. I’m a lazy cook when it comes to feeding myself, so I open the fridge and throw together something simple — usually chicken and vegetables, pasta and salad or (most commonly) scrambled eggs and toast.

8:00pm: In the evenings, I turn into a couch potato. I drink tea and read or veg out in front of the television, bingeing an early 2000s sitcom I’ve seen 10 times already. Sometimes my sister comes over and we obsess over the latest episode of Call the Midwife or Only Murders in the Building.

10:00pm: I get ready for bed, wind down for the evening (usually read a few emails — relaxing, I know), and get ready to do it all again the next day. And that’s pretty much it — thanks for spending the day with me!