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In this weekly podcast, follow us as we go more in-depth with the students, faculty, and staff who are behind the different organizations and programs featured in our Instagram video series Try @ TXST, and see what makes Texas State University so unique.
Part of the TXST Podcast Network: https://www.txst.edu/podcast-network.html
Nora Parkhurst:
Hi guys, I'm Nora Parkhurst and you're listening to Try @ TXST. Today, I had a really lovely conversation with Blake Leschber, he's the editor-in-chief at The University Star. He talked about how it's the 115th anniversary of The Star, and also how being a part of The Star has completely changed the trajectory of his life. It's a great conversation, I'm excited for you guys to listen to it, let's get into it.
Hi, I'm Nora Parkhurst and you're listening to Try @ TXST, and today I'm here with Blake Leschber. Blake, how are you doing?
Blake Leschber:
Good. How are you?
Nora Parkhurst:
I'm good, thank you. Okay, so Blake, you're editor-in-chief at The University Star, could you tell us a little bit about what that means?
Blake Leschber:
So, that just kind of means that I do kind of everything, to put it lightly. But to be more specific, editor-in-chief oversees the whole organization. So, whether that's the content that you're seeing or the promotional materials, we've got so many different things we're doing right now. Not only do we do a print paper every week, we do online content basically daily, social media content basically daily, we just started a broadcast section. So, they do twice a month. We also got advertising that I help out with, and we have a public relations team that puts on all of our events, does our internal and external relations, and I help a lot with that as well. So, there's a lot that happens. Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
That sounds like a lot. I guess, so you told me earlier that this is the 115th anniversary of The University Star.
Blake Leschber:
Yes.
Nora Parkhurst:
Could you walk us through the history of-
Blake Leschber:
Yeah. Yeah. So, The University Star started in 1911, so that would make us 115. It has gone through, I want to say four name changes at this point, University Star has stuck around for a little while, and that's what it's going to stick around as. For as long as I know it will stick around as University Star. But we've gone through a lot of history, we've covered so many different things, different wars that happened that impacted Texas State. President LBJ was editor-in-chief of The University Star when he was in college, so it has sort of that long legacy. Not only does Texas State have the only president who's graduated from a Texas college, but The University Star has that president who served as the leader of it at one point. So, we've had a lot of history.
Nora Parkhurst:
What does that mean now that you're... Because you brought up legacy, and you're in the same position that LBJ was in.
Blake Leschber:
Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
So, what does that mean for you?
Blake Leschber:
It's very rewarding, I think. Whenever I think about like, oh, that the president was doing this job at one point, it's pretty cool to think about. I mean, this is such a big name, and obviously had such a big role being President of the United States, but it just kind of shows that I think for me, what I'm doing matters and it has importance, and people care about it, and it has this legacy that I want to keep strong as I continue on.
Nora Parkhurst:
What made you join The University Star in the first place? Because you told me that you come from a really tiny high school, and you joined because you wanted to be a part of something. So, does it feel like you're a part of something?
Blake Leschber:
Yes, for sure. For sure. Another reason why I joined, which wasn't even something that I thought about when I joined, but it just kind of happened, was The Star brought me a lot closer to the community that I live in, I got to cover so many different things, talk to so many different community members and people who are active within the community, and I didn't know anything about San Marcos when I came here, I only came here because my mom went to school here. But she went to the Round Rock Campus, so I didn't really know anything about San Marcos, besides the fact that there was an outlet mall. So, when I joined The Star, one of my goals was to write a lot of community-based stories and stories that were important to San Marcos and Texas State.
So, not only did I feel like I joined a community of the people that I work with at The Star, but I felt like I got a lot closer to the town and the university that I live in because I got to cover those important stories and talk to those important people for those and build that connection and just learn so much more.
Nora Parkhurst:
What was, I guess, one of the most surprising things that you've learned through your work with The Star?
Blake Leschber:
One of the most surprising things I think I've learned is just how to get over social fears and social anxiety, and just kind of do it and talk to people. I say this all the time, that if you would've told my high school self that I was calling random people on a Wednesday and asking them to speak with me, that he would think I was crazy. It's something that you have to do in this role, and it's difficult to put those anxieties aside and be like, oh, let me just talk to this person, let me just call them, and hope that they answer. And I'll just keep calling them over and over again.
Nora Parkhurst:
Did you have previous journalism experience?
Blake Leschber:
No. So, my high school didn't have... I went to a really tiny high school, so my high school didn't have a newspaper or journalism classes or anything like that. I did yearbook, but that wasn't really journalism experience. So, no, I didn't.
Nora Parkhurst:
So, can you walk us through what your first year at The Star was like to now?
Blake Leschber:
Yeah. So, my first year at The Star, I joined as a news reporter. So, I was doing a lot of the grunt work and reporting work to be able to have the chance to do more. So, I started by trying to write a story every week, sometimes it happened, sometimes it didn't. I just started as a news reporter where I was covering different events going on on campus, in San Marcos, different news cycle things that were going on. My very first story was about dining halls on campus, so I kind of got thrown into it right away. Second semester of my first year, I got asked to be the assistant news editor, so I started to get some experience in editing and managing a team. But that was with a way smaller scale, with just a couple of news reporters, and I was doing it with a section editor who was doing more of that work and I was just helping out.
I got that experience very early and that's what led me to being editor-in-chief my senior year, which obviously I do a lot more work. I'm in the office probably a good 30 hours a week in addition to the class... Not very many classes this semester. But in addition to the classes that I take. And it's a lot more work, but I do think it's a lot more rewarding, and I've gotten the opportunity to talk to some really cool people. Doing the background work isn't the most fun, but it's taught me a lot about how to work in a professional setting, and it's been a very rewarding experience in my years that I've been here.
Nora Parkhurst:
I know your Outlook calendar is crazy, how do you balance all of that?
Blake Leschber:
It's hard, it's something that I'm still learning every day, even as I start to phase out of my position. But how I've learned to balance it is you just have to give time for yourself. And it's really hard to do in a position like this, where not only am I managing a team of other students who are also trying to do this role, while also trying to have a work-life balance, but I'm also constantly on the clock in a way, because things can always be happening. For me, what I say is I just need to take time for myself and turn my notifications off so nobody can... Or if people are messaging me, then I'm not going to see it for a little bit.
And I've got people who can see it if they need to. And just take some time for myself, whether that's in my apartment for a little bit, just around town... I think you have to give yourself a little bit of space because if you don't, then this job, and really any job is just going to burn you out. So, that's how I've learned a little bit, it's just I have to force myself to take breaks or else I probably won't.
Nora Parkhurst:
Yeah, no, I like that. I like that you're saying that you need to take space for yourself and take care of yourself. There's a lot of different directions I want to go, I guess, what are your plans for after college? How has The Star directed?
Blake Leschber:
Yeah. So, when I came to college, I had no idea what I wanted to do. I came as a completely different major than I am now-
Nora Parkhurst:
What major was that?
Blake Leschber:
I was a communication studies major at first. I guess it's not that different of what I do now because I'm a public relations major now. But different college and stuff like that. I didn't really get much experience at anything in high school, so I was just like, let me go to Texas State and figure it out. And joining The Star made me realize that I do love journalism and reporting specifically. I don't do a lot of that right now in my role just because I'm more of a manager role, but I do love reporting and I've always loved writing. So, it just fits in hand in hand. I definitely want to do more reporting stuff when I graduate. But The Star has also just really taught me how to do that.
In my experience, for me, the best way I learn isn't by somebody sitting me down and telling me how to do things, it's me just doing it and figuring it out, and making the mistakes along the way, but figuring out how to come back from those mistakes and how to not do those again, and figure it out. And I think The Star kind of allowed me to... I was able to learn a lot of the things myself and grow as a writer and reporter myself through my experience of doing the job rather than sitting somewhere and somebody telling me how to do it, and then I just forget about it a week later.
And I think that that's so rewarding. And that's one of my favorite parts of it and why I'm so glad that I ended up doing this was because I just learned so much about the job and how to do it just by doing it myself.
Nora Parkhurst:
It does sound really rewarding.
Blake Leschber:
Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
And it sounds like The University Star gives you a lot of opportunities to get hands-on experience. I like that. You brought up reporting, and your love for reporting and your love for writing, so I want to know what was your favorite opportunity, what was your favorite story?
Blake Leschber:
One of the, in my opinions, the most insightful story that I ever reported on was back in, I want to say it was September 2024, I believe. I was managing editor at the time. And we had gotten a tip about that the high school was on lockdown, San Marcos High School was on lockdown. And there was rumors on what was happening, but nobody really knew what was happening. So, myself and two or three other people went down and we're like, "Okay, let's see what's going on." Ended up being a false threat, but we talked to a lot of parents and families outside, and it was very insightful for me to talk to these people because a lot of them were San Marcos residents.
And they're like, "Oh, the school paper's here? Okay, we see you. That's pretty cool." I mean, we got some people who were like, "How can we see more about you?" For me, it just showed the importance of journalism on a community. The fact that people were so like, "Wow, y'all are actually here, and y'all are talking to us and figuring out the story," was very insightful to me, and it showed me the power that we wield here.
Nora Parkhurst:
How do you guys... Because you guys report really quickly.
Blake Leschber:
Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
How do you guys do that? What's the actual process of-
Blake Leschber:
Yeah. So, it starts by just kind of seeing or hearing that something's happening, or somebody's just walking around on campus and sees that something's happening there already. We just jump into action. We, luckily, a lot of us have, as journalists, we have sources that we can talk to, and be like, "Okay, can you tell me what's going on? Or do you not know yet?" And we are able to talk to people then, and can just figure it out what the story is. We talk to people on the scene, if there's people there.
And it's just, for me, I see it as a big puzzle, where you have to find different people and find different perspectives that can give you the story if you weren't there to see it. And I mean, it's fun in a weird way. But it sounds kind of fun... It is fun because it gets your adrenaline pumping and you just are like, oh, I got to figure this out right now, and you just go.
Nora Parkhurst:
Okay. So, you guys get a tip and then you guys go to the location, you do the reporting.
Blake Leschber:
Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
How long after that does the writing happen and then the release?
Blake Leschber:
So, it really depends on the story. Some things we're able to do on scene updates. So, for example, the San Marcos High School thing I was talking about, I was on our Twitter account putting out tweets that were like, "Hey, this is what we're hearing as of this moment, we will provide more updates as they become available. We'll post those on other socials as well." And then we usually will have, sometimes you'll see multiple stories come out about the same thing, but it's just because we're getting more updates and getting more information that makes that first story outdated. So, we're able to shift from one to another. One of my philosophies is always just put out the information that you can when you can, but always make sure that it is the correct information and stuff like that.
So, it really depends on the situation, but when it is something that's pretty urgent and a lot of people are talking about it, our goal is to put out information quickly, at least something, so that way people know that we're there and that we're on top of it. And then we can come up with more of the details and information as it becomes available.
Nora Parkhurst:
Okay. So, we've talked a lot about your time at The University Star, you've walked us through your process, the reporting, and then the writing, I want to know over the course of the four years that you've spent with them, what moment stands out the most to you?
Blake Leschber:
Well, I think one moment that stands out, and maybe it's just recency bias, but a couple weeks ago we attended, over spring break, we attended the Texas Intercollegiate Press Association Convention, which is our big statewide collegiate journalism convention. The Star won a lot of awards, which was really cool, but one of the things that stood out the most to me was that... I mean, I personally won editor of the year in the state.
Nora Parkhurst:
Oooh.
Blake Leschber:
And it was a pretty cool moment, but I think what made it so rewarding was just that it made these four years all culminate into one award and recognition. And I don't do this job for awards and accolades and stuff like that, but having that validation a little bit just made everything I do felt even more worth it than it already does. And I just thought that it was such a rewarding moment for me, and I think that's one of my favorite moments I'll ever have at the school.
Nora Parkhurst:
Aw. That's really exciting.
Blake Leschber:
Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
Congratulations.
Blake Leschber:
Thank you.
Nora Parkhurst:
That's insane. The fact that you came to Texas State not really knowing what you wanted to do, and not really having any background experience, and then now you're running the whole thing, and you're getting recognized, that's really exciting. And that also goes to show that other students watching this right now, if they're interested and they don't have the experience, they could-
Blake Leschber:
They can learn it, and they can get it, for sure. Yeah.
Nora Parkhurst:
Well, sweet. Thank you for sharing all of that. We have a game that we like to play called Try This or That, and essentially I'm going to give you two options, and then you're just going to answer with the first thing that comes to your head. Okay. Are you ready?
Blake Leschber:
Mm-hmm.
Nora Parkhurst:
Okay. Editing or reporting?
Blake Leschber:
Reporting.
Nora Parkhurst:
Work in bursts over time or all at once on a deadline?
Blake Leschber:
All at once on a deadline.
Nora Parkhurst:
Music while working or silence?
Blake Leschber:
Silence.
Nora Parkhurst:
Print or digital?
Blake Leschber:
Print.
Nora Parkhurst:
Fall or spring semester?
Blake Leschber:
Fall.
Nora Parkhurst:
On-campus story or community-focused?
Blake Leschber:
On-campus story.
Nora Parkhurst:
Breaking news or long-form feature?
Blake Leschber:
Breaking news.
Nora Parkhurst:
Coffee or energy drinks?
Blake Leschber:
Coffee.
Nora Parkhurst:
Okay, that's it, that's all I got. Thank you.
Blake Leschber:
Thank you.
Nora Parkhurst:
Okay. And then I just have one more question for you.
Blake Leschber:
Okay.
Nora Parkhurst:
So, you're graduating at the end of this semester, correct?
Blake Leschber:
Yes.
Nora Parkhurst:
Okay. So, I just wanted to give you the opportunity to answer this question about what do you want your legacy to be with The University Star?
Blake Leschber:
I just want my legacy to be that I, along with the team that I'm a part of, just been able to, throughout this year, make journalism more accessible to students and make it more catered to our student body. I've tried to say that every story I want published, I want to have some sort of reason why students care about it, and reason for students to read it. My legacy is just to make that journalism more accessible and have more people see The Star as the news that is for them, not necessarily the fun police or the people who are just trying to report on negative things within the university, but the people who are there for you. And I want our legacy to be that we are accessible and people can talk to us, and tell us when we aren't necessarily doing the right thing all the time, and when we are slipping a little bit.
Because we are students, and we are learning. So, hearing feedback from our community to me and to people on my team matters so much. And I just want my legacy to be not only that people want to read us and see us, but they also want to talk to us, and reach out to us, and be able to tell us what we're doing right and what we're doing not. And I just think that I hope that that's my legacy, I hope I can continue to see that grow as I leave, and more people join the Star and start doing it as well.
Nora Parkhurst:
Well, Blake, thank you so much.
Blake Leschber:
Thank you.
Nora Parkhurst:
This has been a lovely conversation.
Blake Leschber:
Thank you.
Nora Parkhurst:
And I'm really excited to see what you do next.
Blake Leschber:
Awesome. Thank you so much.
Nora Parkhurst:
Thank you.