Written in the stars
She calls her shift in career a “sign from the cosmos.”
Mandy Feder-Sawyer has seen every corner journalism has to offer. After nearly two decades, she has worked as a reporter and managing editor for three northern California papers as well as earned her position as an adjunct professor at Chico State University.
Before finding her journalistic start, Feder-Sawyer earned a degree in social and behavioral science and later worked several blue-collar jobs. It was not until Sept. 11, 2001, when her career took one of many shifts. After her father witnessed the attack on the World Trade Center and suffered a heart attack shortly after, he ordered Feder-Sawyer to follow her passion for writing.
“He was 15 minutes passed the explosions…I wanted to go see him, and he said ‘No, don’t do that now. Do that later when I’m better,’” Feder-Sawyer recounts. “I said, ‘Okay, but I want to do something,’ and he said, ‘Go back to school for writing.’”
Feder-Sawyer earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Chico State four years later. During her time at Chico State, Feder-Sawyer edited the non-profit arts magazine The Voice. She briefly wrote for the Chico News and Review after graduation, but the cosmos would soon be calling again.
While on her way to scout jobs in New York, Feder-Sawyer received a job offer from the Chico Enterprise Record during a layover in Texas. “I didn’t apply there, but I thought ‘Okay, the cosmos is telling me what to do’,” she said. Feder-Sawyer was a reporter and copy editor for the E-R for a year and a half. In 2007, the Lake County Record Bee offered her the assistant managing editor position and she would quickly become the full-time managing editor. “I also did not apply there. Things just kind of fell into place, so I decided to once again just go with the cosmos,” Feder-Sawyer said.
As managing editor, Feder-Sawyer implemented community focus pages to the Record Bee. Installments such as Native Voice and The Rainbow Connection were published to connect members of the community who otherwise felt excluded or underrepresented. The senior page opened the paper to older residents who ran businesses and events with the local senior centers. Introducing focus pages to the paper strengthened bonds in Lake County and set up the trust community members hold for Feder-Sawyer to this day.
While covering a city hall meeting, the Lake County district attorney approached Feder-Sawyer to say, “you are the most powerful person in the room because everyone trusts you.”
After working with the Record Bee for seven years, Feder-Sawyer moved on to a similar position at the Tahoe Daily Tribune. However, her time there was short lived in comparison. Leadership changes at the Tribune threatened to turn the paper into a tourist magazine which eventually led to Feder-Sawyer leaving. She planned to take a break from journalism, but other opportunities revealed themselves once more when her former (now fellow) professor, Susan Wiesinger, suggested she teach journalism at Chico State.
Mandy Feder-Sawyer continues to write and edit for the Record Bee and E-R. Although teaching takes up much of her time, the stars still align to encourage her passions. Feder-Sawyer has recently contracted a book deal. While she cannot disclose much information at this time, she feels excited to enter the next shift of her career.
