On this episode of our podcast, we're joined by Katelyn Vue. Katelyn is a reporter for the non-profit newsroom Sahan Journal in Minnesota covering the immigration and housing beats. She's been with them for a little over 2 years. In 2024 she shared the Young Journalist of the Year award from the Minnesota branch of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Katelyn is a graduate of the University of Minnesota. She's our 2nd Hmong guest to appear, joining tv news anchor Chenue Her.
Katelyn is a product of Report for America, a non-profit that helps pay the salaries of journalists across the country. Applications to join the next Report for America corps of reporters are due on February 3.
Here are some of the highlights of that conversation, with my questions and her answers edited for length and clarity.
How do you come up with your story ideas?
“I go out for coffee a lot with a lot of sources. That's usually where I find find out things I've never heard of before, things that are really unique about people or about places. I also subscribe to a lot of community newsletters. Those newsletters are really helpful. We're trying to listen to folks that are out in the community.”
What was it like to write about unhoused Hmong people in St. Paul who were about to get evicted from their encampments?
“Homelessness is a really big topic in the Hmong community. I'm Hmong, but I also feel like a lot of folks are paying closer attention to it because folks don't necessarily feel like this issue affects Hmong people, but it does.
How I got this idea was through videos going viral on Facebook in the Hmong community, interviews for folks that live in the encampment.
Writing a story about it, there's that relationship building you have to do, the reporting you have to do, there's the actually going to the encampment, all of that work that happens in between the idea and the story that gets published. It has to take time, especially when it's about a vulnerable population of a very small ethnic group around a topic that is stigmatized.
I went online to find folks who were helping these low-income individuals because they're there every day, trying to get them housing. I was able to find a group that was Hmong-led. It was mainly volunteers working together.
(The unhoused) knew these folks who came every day to feed them Hmong food and who prayed with them. I felt like that was a more comfortable way for me to be introduced. That was how I started building those connections that eventually led to that long story that you read.”
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How do you get your sources comfortable?
“ It's sort of a weird situation when a reporter comes out of nowhere and, comes asking all these random questions, especially when it's something sensitive. Folks don't want to talk about it.
The hardest part is just starting the conversation. I think about it for a really long time before I start asking questions. I think that folks generally want to tell you their story. They want other people to hear about what they're going through and they want someone who is curious or interested in them.
What I try to do is be that person for them so that they feel comfortable at the beginning to open up to me. That happens with being very intentional with how you ask your question and the way that you approach them, because it is a very strange encounter.
I try to take that all into consideration, but I also know that when I meet with someone for the first time, they're not going to want to share. But what I make sure to do is just try again.”
What is the process of writing like for you?
“The very first sentence you're writing is definitely the most challenging thing because when you're reporting, you're literally experiencing it. Taking that experience and then putting it into words, where folks can process it with you and understand what's happening is very hard to do. When I'm writing a longer story, it's overwhelming at the beginning, but it's also enriching to my life to be able to share all these things, too, at the same time.”
How has being a journalist impacted you as a person and how you view the world?
“Because of the job, I have been in places that I have never imagined myself to be in. Sometimes I'm just in awe of where I am. For example, I went to cover the first hemp house, which is basically a house made out of hemp plants.
I was in the middle of a Native community and seeing this huge field of plants and watching them turn it into a house. Being able to see those things is really amazing. Learning about the people behind all of that work has been really amazing.
I was covering housing most of my professional life. My mom has been a renter. And when covering housing, I think I realized so much more about the loss of wealth as a renter and the opportunities you get and opportunities you don't get. Your life outcomes, how it's so dependent on where you live. You learn so much about things that have impacted you, but you just didn't know it.”