Change has become second nature amid the COVID-19 pandemic. About a year prior to the lockdowns brought about by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, I took the helm of the Journal as editor, producing the weekly print publication with the assistance of Tate Thomson, a graphic designer who moved into the position of sales representative, and office manager Heather Spaulding, who wrote an article weekly.

When the pandemic hit, all three of us had our hours cut to part-time, yet continued to work tirelessly to get the Journal out to the community every week, keeping our friends and neighbors informed. Both Spaulding and Thomson have since chosen to pursue other fields of employment.

When Spaulding left, the Journal welcomed Emillie Novak into the position of office manager, and she also began to write an article weekly. Spaulding has (thankfully) continued to contribute to the Journal as a freelance writer, and Thomson also said she would help with photography on a contractual basis as well.

Now, with just one part-time office manager-reporter and myself working at the Journal, we realized we needed more hands on deck.

I’ve stepped into Thomson’s vacated sales position, while still editing the paper each week and writing articles. I wanted to make a note that I will continue to maintain neutrality in my reporting though I will be working with advertisers as well. Those two aspects of my job will remain independent of one another. I take journalistic integrity seriously.

As of March 2, the Journal office has welcomed Christine Sullivan as its new reporter. We are excited to have Sullivan joining the team and look forward to watching her blossom at the Journal.

Introducing Christine Sullivan

By Christine Sullivan

Christine Sullivan, 29, is a photojournalist who was born in Tacoma, Washington at Joint Base Lewis–McChord (Fort Lewis) on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 1991. Her mother and father moved from Bellevue, Washington, settling in the then “small dairy farming town” of Arlington, in 1995. In 1997, she went to Kent Prairie Elementary, where her and her family and younger brother Michael, moved a few miles over to Bryant, in 2001.

By 2006, she had graduated from Post Middle School and went on to discover her knack for the arts and writing at Arlington High. Graduating with 311 other students as the class of 2010, from there, her “journey to journalism” took to pen and paper, as she went on to attended Whatcom Community College, taking several English Literature courses before realizing Bellingham was not a good fit in 2011.

In 2012, she moved back to Arlington and began studying communications at Bellevue College where she landed her first print gig as a reporter for the student-organized newspaper, “The Watchdog.” Just a few months after being promoted to the arts and features editor, she was voted-in by her fellow staff as the new Editor-in-Chief. After mastering the art of pagination and InDesign, doors opened for her as an intern at KING-TV’s “Evening” show with host Jim Dever, as well as, an internship at “425 Magazine,” and “South Sound Magazine,” in 2014.

After her time at Bellevue College was coming to a close, Sullivan was accepted into Washington State University, immediately working for “The Daily Evergreen” as a reporter not long after, she hustled as the opinion/column editor. At this point in time, she was uncertain of whether or not she wanted to take a plunge into broadcast or stick with print, as print was changing drastically to more of an online/social media presence. Uncertain of herself as a 21-year-old woman, she dropped out of WSU and headed south to Palm Springs, California.

Sullivan fell in and out of love, becoming more of a nomad, making her way to Colorado, NYC, and the UK. In 2017, she surprisingly got an externship at “The Times” in London, England. By 2017, she circled back to Seattle and eventually tried on broadcast journalism for size at MTN’s NBC affiliate KTVH in Helena, Montana.

A couple of years went on, and she decided to go back and give it the “old college try” one last time, majoring in Political Science at Carroll College. Christine tells the Sounder she hopes to one day be an “iconic published author” by 2022.

She enjoys spending time with her cat Tiberius, drinking iced coffee, being an underground comedian and painting. She also sings in the shower and her favorite band is Led Zeppelin.

Email Sullivan at christine.sullivan@soundpublishing.com.