News orgs should actively and intentionally hire political reporters that do not live in DC or NYC. Is this self serving? Sure. But after spending a year not living in either place and talking to people outside of those bubbles my perspective on this race is extremely different.

I have had zero (0) problems writing the same stories that I wrote in the eight years I lived in NYC and routinely commuted to D.C. My productivity has actually increased. My stories are better. News organizations only have things to gain by hiring a geographically diverse staff.

Anyway! I'm not leaving Texas and have zero (0) plans to stop being a national politics reporter. I can do it from here. You can do it from anywhere. And you should.

NYC and DC news orgs just lose out on massive amounts of talent by demanding people move to extremely expensive cities for salaries that do not actually allow you to live there. I got into journalism bc i was married to a high paid attorney. That should not be a thing.

I could afford to cut my teeth by taking internships in NYC that paid almost nothing because I was married to someone who could pay the rent and buy food. We should not be limiting good reporting jobs to people who have this privilege. HAVE A GOOD WEDNESDAY.

One more thing do not hire these people as regional reporters. Let them DO NATIONAL REPORTING. Regional reporting is of course crucial but it is equally crucial to have people outside of power centers writing about the impact those power centers have.