I’m Chandler Boese, audience engagement and development editor for The Dispatch. Most importantly, I manage The Dispatch’s online content and presence, trying to connect our stories to the people who want to read them, and then connect those readers to all of the other things we do here .
This can take many forms, but often you have to decide which stories to see where (in your email inbox, social media, our website, etc.) or ask to subscribe to The Dispatch.
Connect with us:7 reasons why you should subscribe to The Columbus Dispatch
You will not see me in the street or take pictures like my great colleagues; I prefer to stay behind the scenes and help the remarkable work they do into the world. But I feel no less committed to the Columbus community and bring you all of the accurate, relevant, and valuable information.
Why did you get into journalism?
Like many of my colleagues who have shared their stories, I ended up in journalism almost by accident. Growing up my dream was to make a living reading books and I went to school hoping to work in publishing. But I kept finding myself in journalism through high school and college because there were more opportunities there in my home state of Kansas.
Though I’ve denied this for years, even though I’ve spent twice as much time on my college newspaper as all of my academic papers, I just have fell in love. The work was my ability, yes, but it also felt like it was so important that even the most routine story with the smallest audience made a difference to someone. When I graduated from college, I couldn’t imagine stopping this work.
What I like best about my job
I love puzzles and my day is full of them: how do I get this headline and all that goes with it? What to do with all these stories How should we deal with a big breaking news moment?
But the best puzzle I end up spending every minute on is the one that has preoccupied my entire industry for years: How do we use the crazy space we call the internet to show people how great and important this work is? (And yes, you have to pay for it.)
It’s a big, huge question, and I could easily spend my entire career answering it with limited success. And that’s okay because I believe so strongly that everyone needs something like The Dispatch in their life. How could I not when I see every day how powerful, masterful and effective the work of my colleagues is?
Basically, I’m selling a product that I believe in and my job is just to figure out how. All I want to try is fair game, and the reward isn’t a professional achievement, but someone else given an important tool to better understand the world around them.
The most challenging part of my job
Log out every night. Also because there are a lot of tasks on my plate and because I immerse myself in my work. It feels like I can always, always do something more.
Especially when you consider how new I am to this job (before the pandemic, I was an editor who mainly focused on the printing papers), I have a long way to go in setting boundaries and accepting when I’ve done everything have what i can do.
Story that I worked on with lasting effect
I really enjoyed working on it the Black Out series last winter that examined how racism affects Black Ohioans and permeates so many spaces in Columbus, from schools to corporate boardrooms. However, nothing compared to the work of my colleagues Mike Wagner, Erica Thompson and Doral Chenoweth enjoyed helping promote the project to our readership through social media and our website.
One thing that I think does the project so well is putting black voices in the foreground and giving a person’s experience a glimpse into a broader problem that affects every part of life. I tried to honor that the doctorate that I did for the project, which I was proud of, but most of all, I was honored to be part of such a great project and such powerful stories.
What I do when I’m not working
I’ve only lived in Columbus for a few years and I’m getting used to a new place, so I’m still discovering all it has to offer. But especially during the pandemic, I really loved exploring the Metro Parks (with the help of my dog). I’m not usually a great outdoors person, but it turns out I am intrigued by every place other than the prairie I grew up on.
I also love books and cooking when I find the time. Before the pandemic, I volunteered at the Columbus Metropolitan Library on a regular basis to satisfy my inner book nerd.
Why shipping is important
In many ways, I see myself simply as a reader of The Dispatch with the privilege to change certain things about it, rather than one of the people who produce it. So what matters to me is how I feel when I read it.
For me this is a big city and sometimes you feel disconnected in many ways. When I moved here without knowing anyone in Ohio, when I was locked in my apartment during the pandemic, when I’ve just been on my side of town for too long, The Dispatch always brings me stories of humanity and resilience and community that that I feel part of Columbus again.
Support our work
Please consider supporting important, local journalism by subscribing to The Columbus Dispatch at dispatch.com/subscribenow.
